The NCAA has levied its judgment in an Ole Miss tampering case, just not the one you’re thinking of.
Ole Miss men’s basketball was found to have committed tampering violations on Friday, but most of the punishments have already been completed. The case isn’t new since it dates back a couple of years and was resolved through the negotiated resolution process. Now, though, the book is closed on this case.
The NCAA found Ole Miss guilty of tampering “when former men’s basketball assistant coach Wes Flanigan had impermissible recruiting conversations with the advisor of a student-athlete from another school who had not entered the Transfer Portal.”
The men’s basketball program will be placed on two years of probation and was fined $455,000. It must also disassociate with an unnamed booster for two years. The rest of the penalties were already served during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.
According to a NCAA release, “the violations in this case occurred after Flanigan knowingly communicated with a known advisor to a student-athlete at another school who was not in the NCAA Transfer Portal. In total, Flanigan spoke on the phone with the advisor 16 times and sent 10 text messages.
In those communications, Flanigan and the advisor spoke about the student-athlete, but the student-athlete ― who subsequently was entered into the Transfer Portal ― did not visit Ole Miss, did not receive an offer of an athletics scholarship and ultimately transferred to another school.”
That’s a pretty clear case of tampering and while not majorly impactful, it’s a reminder the NCAA will punish schools for tampering violations. With the investigation into Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s tampering accusations levied against Ole Miss in February still ongoing, that’s important to note.
However, this case wasn’t handed to the NCAA by another coach. This one was discovered during a broader review of the athletics department. That led the NCAA to discover that Ole Miss “had not actually disassociated a booster involved in the school’s 2017 infractions case. In that case, the school was ordered to disassociate the booster in question for a period of three years.
“The disassociation penalty prohibited Ole Miss from accepting any financial assistance from the booster or his business interests, including those that could result in the booster receiving benefits or privileges not afforded to the general public.
“However, during that time, the booster continued to contribute to the athletics foundation on 18 occasions ― totaling $109,240 ― and received premium seating at Ole Miss games.”
Now Ole Miss disassociate with the booster for two years.
Head coach Chris Beard didn’t fully escape unharmed. While not directly involved or aware of the tampering violations, he was found automatically responsible due to head coach responsibility legislations. The release also states that Beard “promoted an atmosphere for compliance” and wasn’t given any penalties.
Here are the penalties given to Ole Miss:
- Two years of probation.
- A $455,000 fine.
- A one-week ban on all recruiting communications for the men’s basketball program, served during the 2025-26 academic year.
- A one-week prohibition on unofficial and official visits for the men’s basketball program, served during the 2024-25 academic year.
- A one-week prohibition on all recruiting communications for Flanigan, served during the 2024-25 academic year.
- A reduction by five in recruiting-person days for the men’s basketball program served during the 2024-25 academic year.
- A one-year show-cause order for Flanigan, including a suspension and recruiting communication restrictions. The suspension was served in December 2025 and recruiting restrictions were served in the 2024-25 academic year.
- A two-game suspension for Flanigan, served from Dec. 13-17, 2025.
- Disassociation of the booster for two years.
- The athletics director and a senior member of the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation were required to attend the 2026 NCAA Regional Rules Seminar.
