Ole Miss will be a case study in recruiting and compliance

[FlabLoser]

2013..After finishing 4-8 in 2010 and 2-10 in 2011, Hugh Freeze pulled in a 6th ranked recruiting class in his first full year of crootin. Fans and media far & wide suggested that would only be possible by cheating.

Allegations were strong enough that Freeze had to give interviews explaining himself and his program in articles like this one (http://www.si.com/college-football/2013/02/07/hugh-freeze-ole-miss-signing-day). Freeze explained that Ole Miss searches for Ole Miss contacts that are connected to recruits. Freeze says Ole Miss identifies the croot's "champion", which the one person (Ole Miss contact or otherwise) that most influences a croot's decision. Ole Miss recruits the champion as hard or harder than they recruit the croot.

That's Hugh Freeze's description, not mine. Coach34 explained the same process with fewer pronouns, opting for the word "network" instead. Coach34 was, of course, correct about #TheNetwork.

People ask Hugh Freeze how he does it and he explains #TheNetwork without calling it that. Coach34 says #TheNetwork, and Ole Miss folks laugh it off. Not just any Ole Miss folks. Ross Bjork laughed it off here (@FinsUpAP guess #TheNetwork failed.......but we did have @OleMissWBB on at 12noon yesterday.) and here (https://twitter.com/rossbjorkad/status/560081370928934912). Freeze did as well. The whole AD department was throwing around "TheNetwork", making light of it.

Why did Coach34 gets such attention from the top to the bottom of the Ole Miss athletic department? Because its was true. And the best way for people to not take it seriously is to own the name-calling and make fun of it. They did that.

Until now.

I felt in 2013 that Ole Miss made a calculated decision to swing for the fences in crootin. They had to. MSU was about to leave them in the dust. They said to themselves "the NCAA is powerless, so screw the right way...let's win now". They cheated their asses off and they didn't care who noticed or questioned it. Suddenly, #1 position players across the country were interested in Ole Miss.

Nobody but nobody outside Ole Miss thought for a second that any of that was remotely legit. Not even under the "but everybody cheats" umbrella. Yeah, everybody cheats but no 1st year power 5 head coach walks into a losing program and immediately gets a 6th rated class. People take guns, not nuclear weapons, to a gunfight.

One #1 position player was OT Laremy Tunsil. His champion was his mother's boyfriend, Lindsey Miller. Riley Blevins confirmed on this morning's Out Of Bounds show that Miller handled Tunsil's recruitment. Blevins also confirmed that Tunsil's family, including Miller (who married Tusnil's mom last summer), did move from Florida to Mississippi. Blevins said there were arguments about agents and that Miller was questioning his own decision to pick up his life and move to the Oxford area. And now he's spilling the beans.

Somewhere, #TheNetwork is recalling a smoky room from a few years ago when they said 17 it, we can keep losing or play to win - and besides the NCAA is pretty much toothless. I'm sure they decided the risk of losing a few scholarships and maybe a 1 year bowl ban was worth doing what was necessary to compete with the bigs. There were 3 options: 1) keep losing, 2) cheat get caught and still be pretty good, 3) cheat and get away with it and be competitive in the SEC. So cheat and cheat big it was.

Today, Ole Miss is at a fork between possibility #2 and possibility #3. Today, one cigar boy is patting another on the shoulder, saying "don't sweat it, this was part of the plan..remember?"

#TheNetwork called the NCAA's bluff 3 years ago. The NCAA is about to lay down its hand. Who's going to win?

Will Ole Miss prove that a brazen 17-you NCAA policy works in recruiting? Or will the NCAA justify its existence by putting its foot down in the face of gluttonous, over the top cheating? We're about to find out. And whatever happens will be case study for how a lot of schools move forward in crootin.

[ShotgunDawg]

Very well said Flab, and, to be honest with you, I believe Ole Miss people made the correct, most rational decision so long that they understood and were willing to live with the consequences if caught.

The truth is that the NCAA is at a clear cross roads in this case, in regards to the future of the organization. If they can't nail the biggest cheater in college football, where there is the most smoke, then who can they nail? If Ole Miss gets through this with minimal to no penalties, then it would be irrational for every other program to not pay players and attempt to play by the rules.

It's kind of like speeding: Once everyone learned that it was OK to go 5 mph over the speed limit, then it became irrational to believe you were going to get a ticket if you went a little over the speed limit. In the same way, if Ole Miss gets out of this, the we should all cheat because the NCAA is completely inept are basically telling us that it is OK to cheat.

[CadaverDawg]

Very well said Flab, and, to be honest with you, I believe Ole Miss people made the correct, most rational decision so long that they understood and were willing to live with the consequences if caught.

The truth is that the NCAA is at a clear cross roads in this case, in regards to the future of the organization. If they can't nail the biggest cheater in college football, where there is the most smoke, then who can they nail? If Ole Miss gets through this with minimal to no penalties, then it would be irrational for every other program to not pay players and attempt to play by the rules.

It's kind of like speeding: Once everyone learned that it was OK to go 5 mph over the speed limit, then it became irrational to believe you were going to get a ticket if you went a little over the speed limit. In the same way, if Ole Miss gets out of this, the we should all cheat because the NCAA is completely inept are basically telling us that it is OK to cheat.

Yea, I think if OM gets in any "real" trouble, it will be because they went overboard with that class. And to be honest, the very guy that pushed them overboard is the one this issue is about. They had a supposed "in" with Knem and even Treadwell. Not a very believable one, but one they could use. And of course, Connor was from just down the road. The big ones are Tunsil primarily, and maybe even Gholson, bc those were spur of the moment and totally blatant payoffs.

I still think very little comes of this, but if something big happens, it will be because OM got too greedy, when Knem, Treadwell, and Conner would have been plenty to put them on the map.

I hope Oxford burns...."cow kicking over a latern in a barn" style.

[Dawgface]

After the AU and Cam Newton deal, that pretty much opened up the cheating option for some. Will the NCAA try and get this thing under control by hammering OM? Time will tell....

[maroonmania]

After the AU and Cam Newton deal, that pretty much opened up the cheating option for some. Will the NCAA try and get this thing under control by hammering OM? Time will tell....

And its usually more about does your boat start leaking than it is about HOW badly you cheat. With the Newton ordeal the entire family and the Auburn folks involved circled the wagons and kept a watertight ship. The only info that was to be had for the NCAA was the info MSU boosters and coaches had on Cecil pimping out Cam to MSU. Had really nothing on where Cam actually signed. For OM, Miller is a leak in their boat that could cause the whole ship to sink.

[gtowndawg]

Last week some recruit was tweeting about "everyone knows Ole Miss and Clemson are the two biggest cheaters. Give the most cash, best gifts, etc."

Wasn't Nkemdiche committed to Clemson before Ole Miss? I agree he had an in with Ole Miss and I really did chalk it up to his brother being there. But now that simply looks like one cheater outbid the other one.

[AlSwearengen]

So, Miller was Bucky's "champion" with Tunsil and he still tried to get out ahead of the story and threw his "champion" under the bus? Bucky isn't quite sophisticated or worldly enough to play his part effectively. That was just 17'ing stupid to throw Miller under the bus.

[AlSwearengen]

Last week some recruit was tweeting about "everyone knows Ole Miss and Clemson are the two biggest cheaters. Give the most cash, best gifts, etc."

Wasn't Nkemdiche committed to Clemson before Ole Miss? I agree he had an in with Ole Miss and I really did chalk it up to his brother being there. But now that simply looks like one cheater outbid the other one.

Common sense says that nutt and the network were laying the groundwork when they signed denzel. They probably used denzel as a conduit later on. Robert's commitment to clemson was probably smoke and mirrors or it could have been robert's attempt to up the bidding. With olemiss, it could have been any number of things.

One thing you can bet your ass on and that is that Robert didn't come to olemiss simply because his brother was there.

[godlluB]

My money says that this will all turn out to be Dan Jones' fault. ***

[MSUDawg4Life]

After the AU and Cam Newton deal, that pretty much opened up the cheating option for some. Will the NCAA try and get this thing under control by hammering OM? Time will tell....

They are not going to stop unless the NCAA hammers them. As long as they can duck, dodge and laugh in the NCAA's face, they will continue doing what they do. As long as the consequences are minor, they will continue to do what they do.

I'm not convinced anything major comes from this. Even if Tunsil is declared ineligible or suspended for the year, that's a minor consequence compared to what should be done. And they will never miss a beat. Will keep doing the same things they've always done.

[5 Star]

Ole Miss, a case study in a failed segregated society and a failed collegiate governing body.

[Bully13]

2013..After finishing 4-8 in 2010 and 2-10 in 2011, Hugh Freeze pulled in a 6th ranked recruiting class in his first full year of crootin. Fans and media far & wide suggested that would only be possible by cheating.

Allegations were strong enough that Freeze had to give interviews explaining himself and his program in articles like this one (http://www.si.com/college-football/2013/02/07/hugh-freeze-ole-miss-signing-day). Freeze explained that Ole Miss searches for Ole Miss contacts that are connected to recruits. Freeze says Ole Miss identifies the croot's "champion", which the one person (Ole Miss contact or otherwise) that most influences a croot's decision. Ole Miss recruits the champion as hard or harder than they recruit the croot.

That's Hugh Freeze's description, not mine. Coach34 explained the same process with fewer pronouns, opting for the word "network" instead. Coach34 was, of course, correct about #TheNetwork.

People ask Hugh Freeze how he does it and he explains #TheNetwork without calling it that. Coach34 says #TheNetwork, and Ole Miss folks laugh it off. Not just any Ole Miss folks. Ross Bjork laughed it off here (@FinsUpAP guess #TheNetwork failed.......but we did have @OleMissWBB on at 12noon yesterday.) and here (https://twitter.com/rossbjorkad/status/560081370928934912). Freeze did as well. The whole AD department was throwing around "TheNetwork", making light of it.

Why did Coach34 gets such attention from the top to the bottom of the Ole Miss athletic department? Because its was true. And the best way for people to not take it seriously is to own the name-calling and make fun of it. They did that.

Until now.

I felt in 2013 that Ole Miss made a calculated decision to swing for the fences in crootin. They had to. MSU was about to leave them in the dust. They said to themselves "the NCAA is powerless, so screw the right way...let's win now". They cheated their asses off and they didn't care who noticed or questioned it. Suddenly, #1 position players across the country were interested in Ole Miss.

Nobody but nobody outside Ole Miss thought for a second that any of that was remotely legit. Not even under the "but everybody cheats" umbrella. Yeah, everybody cheats but no 1st year power 5 head coach walks into a losing program and immediately gets a 6th rated class. People take guns, not nuclear weapons, to a gunfight.

One #1 position player was OT Laremy Tunsil. His champion was his mother's boyfriend, Lindsey Miller. Riley Blevins confirmed on this morning's Out Of Bounds show that Miller handled Tunsil's recruitment. Blevins also confirmed that Tunsil's family, including Miller (who married Tusnil's mom last summer), did move from Florida to Mississippi. Blevins said there were arguments about agents and that Miller was questioning his own decision to pick up his life and move to the Oxford area. And now he's spilling the beans.

Somewhere, #TheNetwork is recalling a smoky room from a few years ago when they said 17 it, we can keep losing or play to win - and besides the NCAA is pretty much toothless. I'm sure they decided the risk of losing a few scholarships and maybe a 1 year bowl ban was worth doing what was necessary to compete with the bigs. There were 3 options: 1) keep losing, 2) cheat get caught and still be pretty good, 3) cheat and get away with it and be competitive in the SEC. So cheat and cheat big it was.

Today, Ole Miss is at a fork between possibility #2 and possibility #3. Today, one cigar boy is patting another on the shoulder, saying "don't sweat it, this was part of the plan..remember?"

#TheNetwork called the NCAA's bluff 3 years ago. The NCAA is about to lay down its hand. Who's going to win?

Will Ole Miss prove that a brazen 17-you NCAA policy works in recruiting? Or will the NCAA justify its existence by putting its foot down in the face of gluttonous, over the top cheating? We're about to find out. And whatever happens will be case study for how a lot of schools move forward in crootin.

Great post

[Political Hack]

Flab, it's funny you mention a smoky room a few years ago... there were pretty strong rumors coming out of some well known folks in Jackson that OM had gotten a group together to see how much money they could commit to cruitin' that year. The numbers thrown out, if true at all, were ridiculous in my estimation, but who knows???

Anyone else know or can confirm whether or not the Tunsil's primary source of income is disability??? It's purely a rumor I've heard and I have absolutely no clue if it's true or not, but if so, it becomes much more interesting as to how they afforded a move to Oxford.

[Belegal]

Is it a fact that Tunsil had to go to Indianapolis to meet with the NCAA? What about Freeze? Didn't he miss practice once & supposedly in ind. too? Then how does Freeze say the NCAA investigation was only for recruiting before he arrived- NCAA questioning Chris Jones on tsun recruiting of him was on Freeze's watch. Hasn't this been his position?

[Political Hack]

Is it a fact that Tunsil had to go to Indianapolis to meet with the NCAA? What about Freeze? Didn't he miss practice once & supposedly in ind. too? Then how does Freeze say the NCAA investigation was only for recruiting before he arrived- NCAA questioning Chris Jones on tsun recruiting of him was on Freeze's watch. Hasn't this been his position?

the day he was rumored to have been meeting with Indy (don't know where it was alleged to have happened, just that it was alleged to have happened), he missed a press conference after practice and had someone fill in for him. I forget who, but he wasn't there.

[FlabLoser]

So, Miller was Bucky's "champion" with Tunsil and he still tried to get out ahead of the story and threw his "champion" under the bus? Bucky isn't quite sophisticated or worldly enough to play his part effectively. That was just 17'ing stupid to throw Miller under the bus.

Freeze has a history of burning bridges once a person's usefulness has been exhausted.

[Jacksondevildog]

Probably the same group that got Rod Taylor's family a home in Eastover.
Flab, it's funny you mention a smoky room a few years ago... there were pretty strong rumors coming out of some well known folks in Jackson that OM had gotten a group together to see how much money they could commit to cruitin' that year. The numbers thrown out, if true at all, were ridiculous in my estimation, but who knows???

Anyone else know or can confirm whether or not the Tunsil's primary source of income is disability??? It's purely a rumor I've heard and I have absolutely no clue if it's true or not, but if so, it becomes much more interesting as to how they afforded a move to Oxford.

[Bubb Rubb]

I say aGAIN that the Conner recruitment is the most egregious of all. No way that guy was eligible to play at Ole Miss without shenanigans.

[AlSwearengen]

I say aGAIN that the Conner recruitment is the most egregious of all. No way that guy was eligible to play at Ole Miss without shenanigans.

I remember people saying that he didn't pass a test or didn't graduate or something and all of a sudden he is at olemiss playing. There have been recruit's parents say that their kid didn't HAVE to go to olemiss because they had their grades. That speaks volumes to me.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I say aGAIN that the Conner recruitment is the most egregious of all. No way that guy was eligible to play at Ole Miss without shenanigans.

If that's true, just imagine how bad Snoop Brassel's grades were...

[Bama_Dawg]

If that's true, just imagine how bad Snoop Brassel's grades were...

We dodged a bullet with Brassell...didn't we?

[Jacksondevildog]

I'm not saying that this is Conner's case, but USP has multiple football players, year after year, that are special education. They will always be eligible to participate in high school athletics across Mississippi. I'm not sure how that works with the NCAA. I'm sure we have had hundreds play at MSU that fell into the same category. But we haven't had many players from South Panola where this situation is more prevalent. We are also talking about Ole Miss that got Powe cleared to play and his mother is quoted basically saying that her son can't read.

[Political Hack]

We dodged a bullet with Brassell...didn't we?

remember the drama over he and Singleton? Seems sort of funny now, doesn't it.

[Jacksondevildog]

Singleton wasn't even the best receiver at Jackson State when he transferred there. Soft as owl shit and didn't work hard, but he had "stars". Will never forget the Tobias Manning article on his arrest.


remember the drama over he and Singleton? Seems sort of funny now, doesn't it.

[gravedigger]

We dodged a bullet with Brassell...didn't we?

No. He was never coming to state. That was a ruse

[thf24]

I heard Snoop had to have a handler walk him around to make sure he went to and stayed in class, and if said handler took his/her eyes off him for a minute or two, he'd be back in his dorm playing video games. Amazing how they got a guy like that out of high school and into college, however they did it.

[BeardoMSU]

I heard Snoop had to have a handler walk him around to make sure he went to and stayed in class, and if said handler took his/her eyes off him for a minute or two, he'd be back in his dorm playing video games. Amazing how they got a guy like that out of high school and into college, however they did it.

Remember: Jerrell Powe earned a degree from that school. The dude was illiterate. Seriously. How shameless can you be?

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

Who is the om assistant famous for getting players academically eligible? Sanders maybe?