(WBRZ News 2) OXFORD, MS - The NCAA hit the Ole Miss football program Friday with multiple sanctions following a five-year investigation into the program while lead by former head coach Hugh Freeze.
The National Collegiate Athletics Association handed Ole Miss a two-year bowl ban, docked 13 scholarships and levied a $179,000 fine. Additionally, the coaches named in the investigation will be forbidden from coaching in the NCAA for a period of time.
The university's self-enforced bowl-ban will count towards the NCAA ban, meaning the penalty only includes this season and the next.
Ole Miss had been accused of 21 allegations that included academic fraud, making payments for prospective recruits and improper contact with recruits. The NCAA had previously accused Ole Miss of lacking institutional control and that Freeze had failed to monitor his staff.
Freeze resigned from head coaching duties a month before this season started and it was later revealed that he had made calls on a school issued phone to escort services.
The Rebels finished the season 6-6 under new head coach Matt Luke.