Reason2succeed
06-30-2016, 09:42 PM
http://on.TheCockofBjork.com/298NCdZ
Former Ole Miss players deny pay-for-play claims
Daniel Paulling, The Clarion-Ledger 4:16 p.m. CDT June 30, 2016
NCAA Football: Mississippi at Florida
(Photo: KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY SPORTS)
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OXFORD - Laremy Tunsil’s NFL draft night admission that he received money from Ole Miss staffers while he was the school’s left tackle shocked the college football world.
Consider at least one former Rebel among that group of surprised people.
“I did not expect to see that at all,” Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Lavon Hooks said. “Laremy, he’s a good friend of mine. He’s got a great head on his shoulders.”
The NCAA is currently investigating screenshots of alleged text messages posted on Tunsil’s Instagram, halting the organizing body’s process with Ole Miss. No meeting with the Committee on Infractions has been scheduled, and it may be 2017 before a final ruling is reached.
One of Tunsil’s former teammates, however, has already made up his mind about the remarks.
STAY INFORMED: Sign up for The Clarion-Ledger’s Ole Miss newsletter.
“He said it himself, so I’m not going to say he’s lying about it,” said former defensive end Channing Ward, who has since signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “If he said it happened, it happened. I just hated it happened to him. He’s a great guy.”
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel reported Wednesday that Tunsil’s estranged stepfather, Lindsey Miller, alleged the coaching staff and boosters provided financial assistance to help the family move from Lake City, Florida, to the Oxford area.
Desiree Polingo, Tunsil’s mother, denied the allegation in a statement through her lawyer to SI.
Four former players interviewed for this story — Hooks, Ward, safety Trae Elston and offensive tackle Fahn Cooper — and each said he didn’t receive anything impermissible during his recruitment or playing career. All were highly pursued by members of coach Hugh Freeze’s staff.
Hooks was a four-star recruit and the top-ranked JUCO player in 2013 after completing his career at Northeast Mississippi Community College, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rating. Ward was a five-star recruit and the No. 34 player in the 2012 class, and Elston, a three-star recruit, held offers from several top-notch programs including Alabama, LSU and Oregon.
The notice of allegations Ole Miss received in January contains 13 alleged violations committed by the football program, four related to former coaches David Saunders and Chris Vaughn.
Six of the remaining nine allegations involve a player or his family receiving something impermissible, including loaner car use by Tunsil and another player, an $800 payment to Miller by a booster, and Tunsil’s family receiving 12 nights’ worth of lodging in Oxford. None of the 13 alleged violations in the notice of allegations involved pay-for-play.
Each player interviewed said there was something else drawing him to Ole Miss, ranging from an opportunity to play in the Southeastern Conference (Cooper) to believing the coaching staff would help him mature away from the field (Hooks), not impermissible items.
“No, I have not received money,” Elston said. “I never heard anything (about people receiving impermissible items). I never seen anything like that. But things happen at all universities. But I don’t think anything happened at the University of Mississippi, though.”
Added Ward: “Naw, (my family and I) didn’t receive nothing.”
Added Cooper, a fifth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers after two seasons at Ole Miss: “Coming from JUCO, I just appreciated a T-shirt and fresh socks every day. I never asked for anything, never got anything I wasn’t supposed to have.”
Hooks was heavily recruited by Freeze and assistant athletic director of junior college and high school relations Barney Farrar, whose name came up on draft night after an Ole Miss staffer allegedly told Tunsil to “go see Barney” after requesting money.
But Hooks doesn’t question Farrar’s work after spending a lot of time with him.
“Coach Barney, I don’t know how to explain it,” Hooks said. “He was like an uncle that raised me. He was a great man. I don’t see it (the alleged actions) coming from any of those guys.”
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Four former OM tell the Clarion Liar they didn't receive impermissible benefits so now the NCAA can go home with their hat in their hand begging to stay in Oxford for a few more glorious days.***
Never mind the fact that this is the same journalistic rag that Bdork told that the investigation was over.
Never mind that Tunsil confessed with text message evidence to back it up
Never mind that Lindsey Miller spilled all the beans and Frijoles
Never mind 8 level 1 violations
Former Ole Miss players deny pay-for-play claims
Daniel Paulling, The Clarion-Ledger 4:16 p.m. CDT June 30, 2016
NCAA Football: Mississippi at Florida
(Photo: KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY SPORTS)
113
CONNECT
TWEET
17
COMMENT
MORE
OXFORD - Laremy Tunsil’s NFL draft night admission that he received money from Ole Miss staffers while he was the school’s left tackle shocked the college football world.
Consider at least one former Rebel among that group of surprised people.
“I did not expect to see that at all,” Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Lavon Hooks said. “Laremy, he’s a good friend of mine. He’s got a great head on his shoulders.”
The NCAA is currently investigating screenshots of alleged text messages posted on Tunsil’s Instagram, halting the organizing body’s process with Ole Miss. No meeting with the Committee on Infractions has been scheduled, and it may be 2017 before a final ruling is reached.
One of Tunsil’s former teammates, however, has already made up his mind about the remarks.
STAY INFORMED: Sign up for The Clarion-Ledger’s Ole Miss newsletter.
“He said it himself, so I’m not going to say he’s lying about it,” said former defensive end Channing Ward, who has since signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “If he said it happened, it happened. I just hated it happened to him. He’s a great guy.”
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel reported Wednesday that Tunsil’s estranged stepfather, Lindsey Miller, alleged the coaching staff and boosters provided financial assistance to help the family move from Lake City, Florida, to the Oxford area.
Desiree Polingo, Tunsil’s mother, denied the allegation in a statement through her lawyer to SI.
Four former players interviewed for this story — Hooks, Ward, safety Trae Elston and offensive tackle Fahn Cooper — and each said he didn’t receive anything impermissible during his recruitment or playing career. All were highly pursued by members of coach Hugh Freeze’s staff.
Hooks was a four-star recruit and the top-ranked JUCO player in 2013 after completing his career at Northeast Mississippi Community College, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rating. Ward was a five-star recruit and the No. 34 player in the 2012 class, and Elston, a three-star recruit, held offers from several top-notch programs including Alabama, LSU and Oregon.
The notice of allegations Ole Miss received in January contains 13 alleged violations committed by the football program, four related to former coaches David Saunders and Chris Vaughn.
Six of the remaining nine allegations involve a player or his family receiving something impermissible, including loaner car use by Tunsil and another player, an $800 payment to Miller by a booster, and Tunsil’s family receiving 12 nights’ worth of lodging in Oxford. None of the 13 alleged violations in the notice of allegations involved pay-for-play.
Each player interviewed said there was something else drawing him to Ole Miss, ranging from an opportunity to play in the Southeastern Conference (Cooper) to believing the coaching staff would help him mature away from the field (Hooks), not impermissible items.
“No, I have not received money,” Elston said. “I never heard anything (about people receiving impermissible items). I never seen anything like that. But things happen at all universities. But I don’t think anything happened at the University of Mississippi, though.”
Added Ward: “Naw, (my family and I) didn’t receive nothing.”
Added Cooper, a fifth-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers after two seasons at Ole Miss: “Coming from JUCO, I just appreciated a T-shirt and fresh socks every day. I never asked for anything, never got anything I wasn’t supposed to have.”
Hooks was heavily recruited by Freeze and assistant athletic director of junior college and high school relations Barney Farrar, whose name came up on draft night after an Ole Miss staffer allegedly told Tunsil to “go see Barney” after requesting money.
But Hooks doesn’t question Farrar’s work after spending a lot of time with him.
“Coach Barney, I don’t know how to explain it,” Hooks said. “He was like an uncle that raised me. He was a great man. I don’t see it (the alleged actions) coming from any of those guys.”
-----------------
Four former OM tell the Clarion Liar they didn't receive impermissible benefits so now the NCAA can go home with their hat in their hand begging to stay in Oxford for a few more glorious days.***
Never mind the fact that this is the same journalistic rag that Bdork told that the investigation was over.
Never mind that Tunsil confessed with text message evidence to back it up
Never mind that Lindsey Miller spilled all the beans and Frijoles
Never mind 8 level 1 violations