Mike Farrell of all people
Something must be afoul in the state of Mississippi these days, because Ole Miss has been under fire as well. While the issues in Oxford are not nearly as serious as they are in Starkville, they are still troubling.
Personally, I feel lied to. I wrote a column back in early February saying we should reserve judgement on Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss in light of the NCAA investigation.
Why did I say such a thing when everyone, even my inner instinctual self, said something was amiss at Ole Miss when it came to landing elite recruits?
I foolishly believed Ole Miss Athletic Director Ross Bjork back in late January when he clearly insinuated that the roughly 30 violations the NCAA found were mainly in regards to womenās basketball, track and field and football with the old coaching staff as well as the Laremy Tunsil, situation which many felt was previously addressed with his seven-game 2015 suspension.
Now we come to find out 13 of the roughly 30 violations occurred in football and only four were under Freezeās predecessor, Houston Nutt. Only three of those remaining 10 involved loans of cash and cars and improper payments and free lodging in regards to Tunsil and his family, which means this is much more than just a Tunsil issue and certainly wasnāt all about womenās hoops, track and field and Nutt.
Eight of the 13 are Level I breaches, a big deal in the NCAA world. Freeze was so confident he was following the rules that he famously tweeted (and then deleted) the following leading up to LOI Day in 2013ā¦
Now Freeze says these are āmistakesā and ānot some staff out trying to buy players.ā After being misled by Bjork, should we now believe Freeze?
Fool me once, shame on me. The worst part is that good, honest players who arenāt receiving additional benefits and chose Ole Miss for all the right reasons are being lumped in with the lies and deceit more than ever. Freeze didnāt want the young men slandered or their families insulted, but how do you stop that now?
Rivals
Something must be afoul in the state of Mississippi these days, because Ole Miss has been under fire as well. While the issues in Oxford are not nearly as serious as they are in Starkville, they are still troubling.
Personally, I feel lied to. I wrote a column back in early February saying we should reserve judgement on Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss in light of the NCAA investigation.
Why did I say such a thing when everyone, even my inner instinctual self, said something was amiss at Ole Miss when it came to landing elite recruits?
I foolishly believed Ole Miss Athletic Director Ross Bjork back in late January when he clearly insinuated that the roughly 30 violations the NCAA found were mainly in regards to womenās basketball, track and field and football with the old coaching staff as well as the Laremy Tunsil, situation which many felt was previously addressed with his seven-game 2015 suspension.
Now we come to find out 13 of the roughly 30 violations occurred in football and only four were under Freezeās predecessor, Houston Nutt. Only three of those remaining 10 involved loans of cash and cars and improper payments and free lodging in regards to Tunsil and his family, which means this is much more than just a Tunsil issue and certainly wasnāt all about womenās hoops, track and field and Nutt.
Eight of the 13 are Level I breaches, a big deal in the NCAA world. Freeze was so confident he was following the rules that he famously tweeted (and then deleted) the following leading up to LOI Day in 2013ā¦
Now Freeze says these are āmistakesā and ānot some staff out trying to buy players.ā After being misled by Bjork, should we now believe Freeze?
Fool me once, shame on me. The worst part is that good, honest players who arenāt receiving additional benefits and chose Ole Miss for all the right reasons are being lumped in with the lies and deceit more than ever. Freeze didnāt want the young men slandered or their families insulted, but how do you stop that now?
Rivals
