Ole Miss basketball resolves tampering case with no further NCAA penalties

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The NCAA has decided against penalizing Mississippi basketball coach Chris Beard, meaning his program faces no further penalties related to an infractions case involving a former assistant coach who committed tampering violations.

Beard “was not personally involved in the violations, was not aware of the impermissible contact and promoted an atmosphere for compliance,” the NCAA announced in a statement Friday. “Thus, the parties agreed that he should not receive any penalties.”

The NCAA found that former assistant Wes Flanigan had “impermissible recruiting conversations with the advisor of a student-athlete from another school who had not entered the transfer portal.”

The player, who was not identified, subsequently entered the portal but never visited Ole Miss and wound up at another school.

The NCAA has accepted penalties that Ole Miss had already agreed to serve in connection with the case during the past two seasons, including two years of probation, a $455,000 fine, a one-week ban on all recruiting communications for the men’s basketball program and a one-week prohibition on prospective player visits.

Ole Miss said in a statement the university was pleased to have resolved the matter with “no ongoing or future impact on our basketball program … or any other athletics program.”

Meanwhile, the NCAA also found Ole Miss had failed to “dissociate” a booster in line with a 2017 infractions ruling. The university accepted about $109,000 and provided premium seating to the booster after the ruling.

Under a negotiated settlement, Ole Miss was required to end its relationship with the booster for two years, while athletic director Keith Carter and a senior official with the Ole Miss Athletic Foundation were required to attend an NCAA rules seminar.

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