Report: NCAA expands investigation to other SEC players recruited by Ole Miss

SEC players outside the Ole Miss program will be questioned about their recruitment

The NCAA's investigation into Ole Miss athletics has taken what Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde is calling a "new twist" in the last month: The NCAA is now interviewing other SEC players about the Rebels' recruiting practices.

Since the NCAA does not have subpoena power, enforcement officials can get student-athletes from other schools to offer their accounts of potential violations by granting immunity. According to the report, this is how NCAA officials were able to get interviews during visits to Auburn, Mississippi State and "perhaps at least one more SEC Western Division school."

Neither the NCAA nor Ole Miss will comment on the details of ongoing investigations.

In the school's response to the NCAA's Notice of Allegations, Ole Miss accepted responsibility for 27 of the 28 alleged violations but announced that it will fight to have five of them lessened from Level II to Level III violations.

Of the 13 allegedly committed by Ole Miss football, eight were deemed to be Level I violations (the most serious kind), while nine of the 13 violations occurred under the current tenure of coach Hugh Freeze. As a response to the allegations, the school plans to self-impose an 11-scholarship reduction in football -- one scholarship from the 2015 class, two from the 2016 class and four from each of the 2017 and 2018 classes.

The 13 allegations brought against the football program by the NCAA were as follows:

• A representative of the institution's athletics interests provided football student-athletes with impermissible extra benefits in the form of complimentary vehicle use and an impermissible loan. Monetary value: $7,495. (Level I)
• The football program failed to monitor the activities of representatives who gave three athletes loaner vehicles and the school's compliance office failed to "adequately inquire into the circumstances surrounding [redacted player's] acquisition and use of the vehicle, including the impact to [redacted player's] eligibility." (Level II)
• A representative of the institution's athletics interests provided a football student athlete with $800 cash in August 2014. (Level I) -- In Ole Miss' response to the NCAA, it referenced that this was $800 paid to "student-athlete 1's stepfather," and earlier mentions of "student-athlete 1" referenced the allegations against Laremy Tunsil that had previously been disclosed, so it can be inferred that this was payment made to Lindsey Miller, Tunsil's stepfather.
• On 12 occasions a representative of the institution's athletics interests provided free lodging to a football student athlete. Monetary value: $2,253. (Level I)
• Assistant Chris Kiffin provided two nights of lodging for a student athlete at his residence. Monetary value: $33. (Level III)
• Kiffin arranged for three family members of a recruit that were not his parents or legal guardians to receive "impermissable recruiting inducements" during his official visit. Monetary value: $1,027. (Level II)
• Kiffin had a 10-minute recruiting conversation with a recruit during an evaluation period. (Level III)
• Four recruits were given "various recruiting inducements" and assistant Maurice Harris arranged for two of the four recruits to receive those inducements. Monetary value: $2,250. (Level I)
• Football program produced and/or played three personalized recruiting videos to numerous then football prospective student-athletes who were visiting. (Level III)
• In 2010, former staffers David Saunders and Chris Vaughn violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when they engaged in fraudulence or misconduct in connection with the ACT exams of three prospective student athletes. The fraudulent exam scores allowed the prospects to satisfy NCAA initial eligibility academic requirements. (Level I)
• Saunders and Vaughn knowingly arranged for impermissable benefits for five recruits and Saunders was involved in making arrangements for a sixth recruit. Monetary value: $1,750. (Level I)
• In 2013, Vaughn communicated with witnesses of an NCAA investigation and provided false or misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff. (Level I)
• In 2013 and 2014, Saunders provided false or misleading information to the institution and enforcement staff. (Level I)

This "new twist" in the investigation is just the latest extension of an ongoing process that Hugh Freeze likened to a "four-year colonoscopy." The NCAA's case began to come together in early 2016 but then leaked text messages believed to involve Laremy Tunsil and an Ole Miss staffer on NFL Draft night extended the probe.

Ole Miss takes the field to start the 2016 campaign on Monday, Sept. 5 against Florida State in a "neutral-site" game in Orlando.