This is a topic that we hear a lot, but it never seems to turn into a real story. At least not regarding college athletics these days. That is, tampering among schools during recruitment. However, with the latest allegations, the NCAA is reportedly conducting a thorough investigation. So the real question is simple. Is there any merit to the Ole Miss tampering allegations made by two separate schools? And if they are found to be legitimate, what could the result be for the Rebels?<\/p>\n
It all started nearly two weeks ago, when Clemson’s Dabo Swinney accused Ole Miss and first-year head coach Pete Golding<\/a> of “blatant tampering” in a public press conference<\/a>. And it comes in regards to Luke Ferrelli<\/a>. Ferrelli is a linebacker that transfered to Clemson from Cal, only to shortly change his mind and end up with Ole Miss.<\/p>\n According to Swinney, Ferrelli was fully signed and in classes at Clemson. One day, while in class, Golding supposedly reached out to him, asking what the buyout would be. After reiterating that he was fully committed to Clemson, Ole Miss reportedly doubled its offer. Later that same day, Ferrelli decided to re-enter the portal and flip to Ole Miss.<\/p>\n Now, we can all agree that this is an obvious case of tampering. If the texts are real, there’s zero doubt that it’s tampering. But where we start going off the rails is for the people acting like this is a more extreme, blatant example. One key argument they make is that the player was already enrolled. But there’s little difference between this example and coaches urging players to enter the portal before it opens. In that case, the player is still enrolled at a school. The timing is the only difference.<\/p>\n Following the press conference from Swinney, Ole Miss clearly had plenty of attention coming its way. And then things arguably got worse for the Rebels. Almost a week later, a report came out that said NCAA investigators were in contact with Fresno State, surrounding Bulldog wide receiver Josiah Freeman<\/a>. The topic at hand? An unnamed Ole Miss staff member reportedly reached out to Freeman after he was given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. However, Freeman wasn’t entered into the portal. Neither Fresno State’s head coach nor its athletic director has publicly commented on the report.<\/p>\n Similarly, if the communications prove to be true and accurate, it’s obvious tampering. But is it somehow worse than everything else going on in college athletics? Most people speaking objectively would likely say no.<\/p>\n All of this leads to the next question: What could the NCAA do to Ole Miss if the allegations are found to be true?<\/p>\n For the NCAA, they have a few options surrounding the Ole Miss tampering allegations. That is, if they decide that the allegations are true and legitimate. One option is to follow the precedent they’ve set in other similar cases surrounding tampering. In a 2023 case, the NCAA suspended Southern Utah head coach DeLane Fitzgerald one game. In addition, he faced a $5,000 fine and one week of probation. The football program also faced a two-week ban on all recruiting activities.<\/p>\n Another option is that the NCAA attempts to make an example out of Ole Miss. Despite tampering being a Level II violation, we all know the NCAA generally simply does whatever it wants. With the intense media coverage and publicity of this particular story, they could try to add on additional punishments, such as turning it into a Level I violation, which would come with more severe consequences. The argument for upgrading it to a Level I violation would be based on calling the contract offer to Ferrelli an “illegal or impermissible benefit.”<\/p>\n If you ask Ole Miss fans, they’ve long since concluded that the NCAA has it out for them. Because of this, plenty of Rebel faithful are convinced this is likely going to be the end result.<\/p>\n The Rebels’ response to the ruling is likely going to depend on the end result of the investigation. If the NCAA follows precedent and hits Ole Miss with a Level II violation, Golding and athletic director Keith Carter will potentially make things easy and accept the punishment. Especially if it’s simply a one-game suspension, fine, and probationary period.<\/p>\n However, if the NCAA attempts to upgrade the punishment, the Rebels will certainly fight back. This is because of what has already happened to them in this portal cycle, surrounding Princewill Umanmielen<\/a>, Devin Harper<\/a>, and Chris Jones<\/a>, to name a few. After re-signing with Ole Miss, Umanmielen and Harper ended up at LSU, following former coach Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge. Jones signed with Ole Miss through the portal, transferring from Southern Miss. He then re-entered and landed at Florida State. Elsewhere, some situations have come up with guys like Derian Mensah and Demond Williams.<\/p>\n In other words, everyone is aware that tampering and shady behavior are happening all throughout college athletics. If the NCAA wants to attempt to clarify existing legislation or add new guidelines surrounding the topic, moving forward, they easily could. However, if they try to single out Ole Miss and make them the ultimate villain surrounding the tampering conversation, the Rebels are guaranteed to take the ruling to court. And that’s one place the NCAA sometimes struggles.<\/p>\n Ultimately, is the NCAA going to be willing to open that can of worms by dropping the hammer on Ole Miss? We’re all going to find out together.<\/p>\n Main Image: Bruce Newman\/Special to the Clarion Ledger \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a topic that we hear a lot, but it never seems to turn into a real story. At least not regarding college athletics these days. That is, tampering among schools during recruitment. However, with the latest allegations, the NCAA is reportedly conducting a thorough investigation. So the real question is simple. Is there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4571,"featured_media":85366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17,35582,3],"tags":[4470],"class_list":["post-85356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","category-ole-miss-rebels","category-sec","tag-pete-golding"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4571"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85356"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85367,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85356\/revisions\/85367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fresno State Gets Attention From NCAA Investigators<\/h3>\n
The NCAA’s Next Move Surrounding Ole Miss Tampering<\/h3>\n
What Will Ole Miss’s Response to the Ruling Be?<\/h3>\n