NCAA investigations can be pervasive and uncomfortable. Enforcement officers want to dig in to every nook and cranny to ensure compliance and find or find evidence of alleged rules violations.
According to Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, the investigation process is like a pervasive investigation of the medical sort, specifically, "a four-year colonoscopy."
The money quote from Freeze can be found in Dennis Dodd's great profile of Laremy Tunsil, Freeze and the Ole Miss program after Dodd attended the Rebels' star-studded pro day this week in Oxford.
via Ole Miss' pro day and the bizarre feeling of reloading, not rebuilding:
Purveyors of innuendo have planted their flag. Programs not named Alabama, Auburn or LSU don't get this good, this fast in the ultra-competitive SEC West. At least that's the word on the street. Freeze has heard it.
"Have I been insulted? Absolutely. Many times," the coach said. "I handle it a lot better now. … The perception out there and the narrative of all this pay-for-play that is, in my opinion, very inaccurate."
"We're extremely confident in who we are and how we do things inside this building," Freeze added sternly.
The efforts to compete with Alabama on the field and on the recruiting trail are not lost on Freeze, who told Dodd that he has to "personally recruit 12-15 guys in order to beat a Nick Saban who may call the parent one time."
With Tunsil, Ole Miss might have the No. 1 pick in April's 2016 NFL Draft. Laquon Treadwell seems destined to be a first-round selection as well, possibly the first wide receiver picked. Freak athlete and top-10 talent Robert Nkemdiche is in an odd spot with NFL teams after jumping from a hotel window and running into legal issues, but it's hard to imagine him falling out of the first round.
In 2013, when all three players signed their letter of intent to join Freeze at Ole Miss, the Rebels had no one selected in the NFL Draft. Now with three likely first rounders, the spotlight is brighter than ever, and that includes the NCAA's pervasive investigation into every nook and cranny to ensure compliance.
