When Ole Miss responded to the allegations of NCAA rule violations on May 27, a lot was cleared up, but many questions still remain as to what punishment Ole Miss sports programs will receive.
The women’s basketball and track and field teams had some major violations, but both previously had coaches removed as a result of the violations, and the women’s basketball team already served a self-imposed postseason ban during the 2013 season. The biggest violations for football, regarding academic fraud, involved a previous coaching staff and no current Ole Miss staff.
The main self-imposed penalties for the current Ole Miss Rebel football team are that they must disassociate with certain boosters and one organization for at least three years; the program is being fined $159,325; the team is on probation; and most importantly, the loss of three scholarships in each of the next three recruiting classes.The football team also already carried out some punishments, like the suspension of two assistant coaches from recruiting for 30 days.
The scholarship reduction does have a significant effect on the program, as there has been a lot of focus on improving depth during head coach Hugh Freeze’s tenure. Ole Miss will still have room for any of the top prospects, but three fewer scholarship players each season will leave the Rebels a little thinner in some positions.
If the NCAA doesn’t tack on any extra large punishments the current sanctions will not likely be enough to scare off prospects. Ultimately, the NCAA still decides the punishment for the Rebels, so a harsher penalty could still have a big effect on the Rebels’ future recruiting classes.
A ban on postseason play, or bowl ban, would be the worst-case scenario and definitely hinder the Rebels’ pursuit of top prospects for the 2017 recruiting class. The length of the bowl ban would also be a big factor, as a one-year bowl ban wouldn’t be impossible to bounce back from, but a three-year or four-year ban would be a devastating blow to the program. However, based on the self-imposed sanctions a bowl ban does not look to be likely.
So for now, the football program violations still seem relatively minor. A second investigation involving Laremy Tunsil is currently ongoing and could also affect the program, but the current punishments facing Ole Miss do not seem overly detrimental to the program.
