On a night that the Ole Miss football program should have been celebrating the placement of three of its former players into the first round of the draft, the Rebels are reeling from the admission of left tackle Laremy Tunsil that he was paid while in college.
“I’d have to say yeah,” Tunsil said at his post-selection press conference regarding whether he received money from a coach at Mississippi.
“The university is aware of the reports from the NFL Draft regarding Laremy Tunsil and potential NCAA violations during his time at Ole Miss,” the university said in a statement, via CFT. “Like we do whenever an allegation is brought to our attention or a potential violation is self-discovered, we will aggressively investigate and fully cooperate with the NCAA and the SEC.”
The investigation quickly could get interesting, given that it’s unlikely that only one guy was getting paid, if anyone was getting paid.
It already was known that Tunsil received “impermissible extra benefits” at Mississippi. He missed the first seven games of the 2015 season after the NCAA found that Tunsil had used three vehicles without payment over a six-month period, got an interest-free loan on the down payment for buying a used car, two nights free lodging at a local home, an airline ticket bought by a teammate’s friend, and a free one-day rental vehicle. The notion that Tunsil was paid directly by coaches, however, constitutes new territory for Tunsil and Ole Miss.
The NCAA no longer has jurisdiction over Tunsil, which means he won’t be required to cooperate in any investigation arising from his comments. Based on his surprising candor from last night, maybe he’ll choose to answer questions regarding whether and to what extent he and other players were paid.