The NCAA finally caught up with Ole Miss on Friday, after July allegations the repeat-offender Rebels lacked institutional control while engaging in systemic "illicit" recruiting tactics as heinous as giving away free merchandise and paying for lodging and transportation.
For those of you who clicked hoping to see Colonel Reb outfitting a guillotine, well, I hate to disappoint.
Here are the penalties, via Steven Godfrey of sbnation.com:
- An additional bowl-ban year (2018).
- Because of that total two-year bowl ban, NCAA rules state Ole Miss players could become free to transfer elsewhere without sitting out a season.
- Probation running concurrently with current probation for a total of four years.
- Financial penalties.
- A total scholarship reduction of 13 over a period of years. That’s in addition to the 11 over four years that Ole Miss self-imposed, which already meant three or four fewer scholarship players per year.
- Every coach named in the NCAA’s investigation has received a show-cause (essentially an NCAA blackball for a period of time) of varying lengths. That doesn’t include new head coach Matt Luke, who wasn’t named. Former head coach Hugh Freeze could also receive a two-game suspension, if hired. Former assistant David Saunders’ show-cause runs for eight years. Former staffer Barney Farrar faces five.
According to an Ole Miss spokeswoman, only Ole Miss players set to be seniors in 2018 will be allowed to transfer. Looks like the Rebels will ultimately live to finish fourth in their division beyond 2017.
