For those of us who reported the NCAA’s two takedowns of Ole Miss football in the 1980s and 1990s, this Louisville basketball fiasco really resonates. Indeed, Louisville basketball, to use a poker analogy, sees Ole Miss football’s past indiscretions and raises them infinitely.

Many will remember that Ole Miss received major NCAA sanctions two times in a seven-year period. Most of the violations were what we have come to expect in these NCAA cases: gifts to players, including cash and at least one car. But there was also the rather shocking revelation that Ole Miss football recruits had been transported to Memphis where they attended strip clubs. Among the rules broken was that recruits had been taken more than 30 miles off campus.

Boy, did Louisville get around that one. Louisville brought the strippers to the Louisville basketball dormitory and then handed out condoms to the recruits for private sessions with the strippers. The recruits were minors. One was 16.

Incredibly, part of Louisville’s defense is that the strippers and sex weren’t all that expensive. Louisville contended that the alleged $5,400 spent was not a significant sum. The NCAA was not amused.

Louisville, naturally, has been hammered. Most significantly, Louisville, pending appeal, likely must vacate a Final Four appearance in 2012 and a national championship in 2013. (Do you hold a ceremony for taking down banners? Doubt it.)

The most significant comparison to the ongoing NCAA investigation of Ole Miss football is the NCAA’s treatment of Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino. Louisville’s defense was that paying for strippers and prostitutes was the work of one rogue employee and that nobody else, most certainly not Pitino, knew about it.

Ole Miss has maintained that Hugh Freeze similarly knew nothing of the Rebels’ rule breaking, some to which Ole Miss already has conceded.

The NCAA, in its findings against Louisville made public Thursday, says it doesn’t matter whether Pitino was ignorant of what was going on. The NCAA says it is Pitino’s job to know what was going on and that if he didn’t know, then he should have. Pitino has been charged with “failure to monitor his program” and suspended five conference games. Again, this is pending appeal. (One wonders why Louisville would appeal this. Considering the transgressions, it seems the proverbial slap on the wrist.)

Michael McCann, a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire who writes about sports law for Sports Illustrated and lectures on a regular basis at Mississippi College School of Law, was asked about any possible parallels between the Louisville and Ole Miss cases.

“It’s hard to know if and how closely the NCAA will draw a parallel between Pitino and Freeze given that the underlying facts and allegations in the Louisville and Ole Miss controversies are so different,” McCann wrote in an email. “That said, I think Freeze and, by extension, Ole Miss should be concerned that the NCAA is willing to punish coaches for failing to learn that players and staff committed NCAA violations.

“At least based on the Pitino decision, it seems clear that in the NCAA’s view, the responsibilities of a head coach include closely monitoring what occurs in and around a program.,” McCann continued. “A coach saying he or she doesn’t know what staff and students are up to is no longer a viable defense, it seems. If the NCAA applies this more extensive view of a coach’s responsibilities to Freeze, it would undermine part of his and Ole Miss’s defense and put him in jeopardy of facing a suspension.”

The football equivalent of a five-conference basketball game suspension would be two. We shall see.

And it remains to be seen how many victories Ole Miss will be asked to forfeit. A Sugar Bowl? Two memorable wins over Alabama?

And does such forfeiture really matter if no championship is involved? I mean, Ole Miss players are not likely to give back their Sugar Bowl rings.

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license. For digital publications:

• Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
• Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

For print publications:

• You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.

NCAA’s suspension of Louisville coach doesn’t bode well for Freeze, Ole Miss

by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
June 16, 2017

<h1>NCAA’s suspension of Louisville coach doesn’t bode well for Freeze, Ole Miss</h1> <p class="byline">by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today <br />June 16, 2017</p> <p>For those of us who reported the NCAA's two takedowns of Ole Miss football in the 1980s and 1990s, this Louisville basketball fiasco really resonates. Indeed, Louisville basketball, to use a poker analogy, sees Ole Miss football's past indiscretions and raises them infinitely.</p> <p>Many will remember that Ole Miss received major NCAA sanctions two times in a seven-year period. Most of the violations were what we have come to expect in these NCAA cases: gifts to players, including cash and at least one car. But there was also the rather shocking revelation that Ole Miss football recruits had been transported to Memphis where they attended strip clubs. Among the rules broken was that recruits had been taken more than 30 miles off campus.</p> <p>Boy, did Louisville get around that one. Louisville brought the strippers to the Louisville basketball dormitory and then handed out condoms to the recruits for private sessions with the strippers. The recruits were minors. One was 16.</p> <p>Incredibly, part of Louisville's defense is that the strippers and sex weren't all that expensive. Louisville contended that the alleged $5,400 spent was not a significant sum. The NCAA was not amused.</p> <p>Louisville, naturally, has been hammered. Most significantly, Louisville, pending appeal, likely must vacate a Final Four appearance in 2012 and a national championship in 2013. (Do you hold a ceremony for taking down banners? Doubt it.)</p> <p>The most significant comparison to the ongoing NCAA investigation of Ole Miss football is the NCAA's treatment of Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino. Louisville's defense was that paying for strippers and prostitutes was the work of one rogue employee and that nobody else, most certainly not Pitino, knew about it.</p> <p>Ole Miss has maintained that Hugh Freeze similarly knew nothing of the Rebels' rule breaking, some to which Ole Miss already has conceded.</p> <p>The NCAA, in its findings against Louisville made public Thursday, says it doesn't matter whether Pitino was ignorant of what was going on. The NCAA says it is Pitino's job to know what was going on and that if he didn't know, then he should have. Pitino has been charged with “failure to monitor his program” and suspended five conference games. Again, this is pending appeal. (One wonders why Louisville would appeal this. Considering the transgressions, it seems the proverbial slap on the wrist.)</p> <p>Michael McCann, a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire who writes about sports law for <i>Sports Illustrated</i> and lectures on a regular basis at Mississippi College School of Law, was asked about any possible parallels between the Louisville and Ole Miss cases.</p> <p>"It's hard to know if and how closely the NCAA will draw a parallel between Pitino and Freeze given that the underlying facts and allegations in the Louisville and Ole Miss controversies are so different,” McCann wrote in an email. “That said, I think Freeze and, by extension, Ole Miss should be concerned that the NCAA is willing to punish coaches for failing to learn that players and staff committed NCAA violations.</p> <p>"At least based on the Pitino decision, it seems clear that in the NCAA's view, the responsibilities of a head coach include closely monitoring what occurs in and around a program.,” McCann continued. “A coach saying he or she doesn't know what staff and students are up to is no longer a viable defense, it seems. If the NCAA applies this more extensive view of a coach's responsibilities to Freeze, it would undermine part of his and Ole Miss's defense and put him in jeopardy of facing a suspension.”</p> <p>The football equivalent of a five-conference basketball game suspension would be two. We shall see.</p> <p>And it remains to be seen how many victories Ole Miss will be asked to forfeit. A Sugar Bowl? Two memorable wins over Alabama?</p> <p>And does such forfeiture really matter if no championship is involved? I mean, Ole Miss players are not likely to give back their Sugar Bowl rings.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2017/06/16/ncaas-suspension-of-louisville-coach-doesnt-bode-well-for-freeze-ole-miss/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=73848&ga=UA-75003810-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

1