Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi College Athletic Department was proud to announce earlier today the National Collegiate Athletic Association has granted the school permission to rejoin Division II. The JFP received this press release just before noon:

Mississippi College can now move forward to become an NCAA Division II member and rejoin the Gulf South Conference, NCAA officials said Friday.

After being initially turned down earlier this summer, Mississippi College leaders appealed. The NCAA Membership Committee overturned the earlier decision to pave the way for acceptance into the Division II membership process.

“We’re on our way to Division II,” MC Vice President for Advancement Bill Townsend said today. “It’s a great day for Mississippi College athletics and athletes.”

Returning to the Gulf South Conference – MC was a member from 1972 through 1996 – the Choctaws will renew rivalries with teams like Delta State, West Alabama, Valdosta State, North Alabama, and face new Baptist-affiliated opponents like Union University of Jackson, Tennessee and Shorter University of Rome, Georgia.

“This is a great day for the Gulf South Conference,” said GSC Commissioner Michael Salant, who was reached in New York at the time of the announcement on the Clinton campus.

With the additions of all-sports members Shorter, Union, Lee University and Mississippi College plus Florida Tech in football and West Florida to start football, the GSC, “is more cohesive and stronger than it probably ever has been,” he said.

“It’s great to renew old rivalries and establish some new ones,” said Townsend, who worked on the appeal in recent weeks with MC trustee Andy Taggart and others at the Christian university. “As we transition into Division II, we will miss our American Southwest Conference friends.”

MC President Lee Royce and Athletic Director Mike Jones scheduled a press conference at noon at the A.E. Wood Coliseum to discuss details of the move from NCAA Division III to Division II.

There is a lengthy process involved as Mississippi College becomes part of the Division II candidacy starting with the 2013-14 academic year.

MC leaders will need to continue to meet with NCAA leaders every year for three years to remain in good standing.

Why go Division II?

In terms of academics and stronger retention efforts, MC leaders say they are pleased to be one of the 300 NCAA Division II colleges and universities nationwide that count 100,000 student-athletes on their rosters. NCAA reports show 73 percent of the freshmen Division II athletes who entered school in 2004 received college degrees six years later.

The move to play athletic opponents in the region in the Birmingham-based Gulf South Conference will greatly reduce travel time for MC student-athletes and enable the Choctaws to receive greater media exposure around the South and nation. Every fall, CSS broadcasts GSC games of the week.

Mississippi College student-athletes were pleased to hear that the Baptist-affiliated school will be returning to the GSC and Division II. It means athletic scholarships will become available once again for MC students who participate in the 15 NCAA …

The state Department of Health has withheld nearly $600,000 from domestic-violence shelters over the past two years.

The Filmmaker's 'Black Tie & Blues' Bash event, which is Feb. 27, marks the end of the annual "It's About You" Film Festival. NMHS recently announced its lineup for the bash. Here is a press release from the organization, verbatim.

NMHS Announces Chef Line-Up for the Filmmaker’s Bash

(Jackson, MS) – NMHS Unlimited Film Productions recently announced the chef line-up for the “Filmmaker’s ‘Black Tie & Blues’ Bash” event. The Filmmaker’s Bash wraps-up the annual “It’s About You” Film Festival and is scheduled for Saturday, February 27 at the Mississippi Museum of Art. The Bash will feature a “Farm to Table” competition by several area chefs. Guests will be able to vote for their favorite chef in the “People’s Choice” competition. One chef will also be awarded the “Top Bash Chef” by a panel of judges. The 2016 event also includes the new “Top Chef Challenge” in which Nick Wallace of the Mississippi Museum of Art and Jesse Houston of Saltine cook-off using a secret ingredient. The evening will include entertainment by international touring blues artist Dexter Allen and the melodic melodies of Melvin “House Cat” Hendrex, a new silent auction and an awards presentation.

Featured chefs of the Filmmaker’s Bash include the 2016 Coordinating Chef, Nick Wallace with the Mississippi Museum of Art; Alex Eaton with The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen; Kendrick Gordon with One Guy Steak and Chicken; Jesse Houston with Saltine; Grant Nooe with Grant’s Kitchen; Damian Shelby with the Mississippi Museum of Art; and Mike Roemhild with Table 100.

“I am very excited to have such talented people participate in our fourth annual event,” said Wilma E. Mosley Clopton, Ph.D. of NMHS Unlimited Film Productions. “Several of our chefs are returning from the previous year and we are also welcoming new chefs. We already have three designated “Top Chefs” in this group and I cannot wait to see who will become the fourth addition. In this competition, each chef’s dish must include local ingredients, -more-

which focuses on our “Farm to Table” competition. I am thrilled to showcase our local talents utilizing our local ingredients.”

The black tie event begins with a VIP Reception from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. VIP Reception tickets are $100 per person. The Bash and “Farm to Table” Competition will take place from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. General admission tickets are $50 per person. Tickets can be purchased online at blackhistoryplus.com

The purpose of the film festival is to showcase films that highlight the rich contributions of Mississippi African Americans. To view a complete film festival line-up and event details, visit www.blackhistoryplus.com.

Thank you to our generous sponsors for their support: Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, ChefWorks, the Mississippi Film Office, The W.E.B. Du Bois Honors College, The Lanier Historical Museum and Arts Guild, Inc., The Lanier High School National Alumni Association, Women for Progress of Mississippi, The Jackson Advocate and Dependable Source Corp. This project is supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, …

It could be a NFL Draft red herring but the Dallas Cowboys have shown an incredible amount of interest in Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott. According to the Dallas-Morning News, Cowboys Quarterback Coach Wade Wilson is in Starkville, Miss today to workout the former Bulldogs single caller.

This will mark the third time that Wilson has meet with before this April's draft. Wilson, along with Dallas Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan, spent time with Prescott at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala and then met with him again at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in late February.

Multiple reports (here and here) have the Cowboys linked to Prescott in this year's NFL Draft. And why not, Dallas has to start thinking about like after Tony Romo at some point.

Last season, Romo spent more time injured than on the field and he has had back issues the last few seasons. The Cowboys have to figure that time is running out on Romo and taking a quarterback in the draft to develop for future is the smart idea.

Prescott has been projected to be drafted as high as the second round but most projections have him being selected in the third to fourth round of this year's draft. Most draft scouts see Prescott as a bit of a work in progress but could turn into a solid starter with time to develop into a NFL starter.

The Dallas Cowboys have nine picks in the draft. Dallas has the 34th pick in the 2nd round, 67th pick in the third round, 101st pick in the fourth round and 135th pick (a compensatory pick) in the fourth round. Other picks include the 189th, 212th, 216th, and 217th pick in the sixth round.

Every pick in the sixth round but the 189th is a compensatory pick. One thing to remember about the draft is that compensatory picks can not be traded and must be used by the team that was awarded the pick. That means the Cowboys don't have a lot of picks to trade if they must move around to get Prescott.

While Prescott has mainly stayed in the news for his on the field work or for being a good guy off the field, he has been in the news for the wrong thing. Last year, Prescott was seen on video being jumped in Panama City, Florida, but the quarterback handled that situation nearly perfectly.

Last week, Prescott was in the news for the wrong reason, when he was arrested for driving under the influence. While his draft stock will take a bit of a hit, because he was arrested so close to the draft, it is not the enough to send up red flags to teams who want to draft the quarterback.

Dallas currently hasn't signed a quarterback in free agency and have Kellen Moore as the only other quarterback on the roster besides Romo. The …

Rugby was a precursor to American football. Soccer is also attached to early football as well, and all three games can trace their roots back to Greek and Roman games.

The first football game in America is credited to Rutgers University and Princeton University on November 6, 1869. Rutgers won the game 6-4 over Princeton.

Football began to gain popularity in the U.S., especially on the east coast, and at universities such as Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University and others. While the game grew fans, it also grew detractors.

Early football was even more violent than today’s football. In fact, punching or drop-kicking an opposing player was not against the rules. Neither were shots to the head or other moves you might see in bar fight or pro-wrestling match.

Football tried to clean itself up with rule changes from the “Father of American Football” Walter Camp. Under Camp, the game added the line of scrimmage, cut players on the field down to 11, changed the size of the field, created the downs system used today and many other advances.

While these rules helped, the game was still dangerous to play. In the early 1900s, the game came under fire to be banned for how violent it was at the time.

There are reports that upwards of 20 people died playing football in 1905. That spurred change even as then-President Teddy Roosevelt got involved because of the public outcry.

Rules were changed again, this time adding the forward pass and the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association the forerunner to the NCAA. These rule changes helped make the game safer in the long run.

Fast Forward to 100 years later and there is a public outcry over the safety of football. This time about concussions.

Let’s be honest. Football, rugby, hockey and other impact sports are going to always have a risk of injury or even death. That doesn’t mean officials should stop working to make the game safer, but there will be a certain amount of risk involved in playing these sports.

While concussions are a part of rugby as well as football, there is something football could learn from rugby.

The Seattle Seahawks and other teams in both pro and college football are teaching shoulder tackling. The Seahawks have even produced two videos on how to shoulder tackle properly.

Both videos show drills that can be done with and without pads to learn to shoulder tackle. The idea is to take the head out of the game. Nothing is 100 percent effective, but it should be worth studying to see if players’ head injuries are reduced by using rugby tackling.

Seattle, like them or hate them, is one of the best tackling team in the league and one of the most physical teams as well. The changes in how they tackle haven’t affected their ability to be physical on …

Can you believe that college football is less than three months away?

While there are still some great sporting events this summer, such as the Rio Olympics, it is never too early to begin your plan to consume the opening five days of college football.

Some great games will open the season, and all six major programs in our state could end up with some type of viewing availability. Opening weekend begins on Thursday, Sept. 1, and ends on Monday, Sept. 5, with a huge Labor Day showdown.

Jackson State University will kickoff the season on Thursday on the road against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The kickoff for that game hasn’t been set and neither has any type of TV channel. There is a good chance this game will be streamed by some source, like on the UNLV site.

The only other game to get really excited about on Thursday is the matchup between the University of South Carolina and Vanderbilt University at 6 p.m. on ESPN. If you want other options, other games, such as Indiana University Bloomington at Florida International University and Appalachian State University at the University of Tennessee, will be on TV.

SWACtion meets MACtion on Friday as Mississippi Valley State University travels to Eastern Michigan University. This game was moved from Saturday to Friday, and the kickoff has yet to be announced. It could end up streaming on ESPN3 or another source.

Other Friday games to sink your teeth into are Colorado State University at the University of Colorado Boulder on ESPN, Kansas State University at Stanford University on FS1 and the University of California at the University of Hawaii. Another game of note is Baylor University opening the season at home against Northwestern State University.

Mississippi State University opens the post-Dak Prescott era at home against the University of South Alabama at 11 a.m. on the SEC Network. The Jay Hopson era begins at the University of Southern Mississippi as the team faces the University of Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Saturday will be a marathon of college football. The day starts at 6:30 a.m. with Georgia Institute of Technology battling Boston College in Dublin, Ireland on ESPN2. The day ends with Brigham Young University and the University of Arizona kicking off at 9:30 p.m. on FS1.

Games of interest throughout the day include the University of Oklahoma against the University of Houston at 11 a.m. on ABC, Texas A&M University hosting the University California Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, and University of Georgia against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Saturday night features the University of Alabama against the University of Southern California at 7 p.m. on ABC and Auburn University against Clemson University at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Alabama and Clemson met for the college football title last season with the Crimson Tide coming out on top.

Alcorn State University begins …

The field part of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships has been good so far to Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi. Both teams are bringing back at least one national championship.

Curtis Thompson of MSU won the men’s NCAA javelin title and Raven Saunders of UM won the women’s NCAA shot put title. Thompson and Saunders both won in impressive fashion in their respective events.

Saunders broke a 33-year-old NCAA record with her winning throw of 63 feet and five inches, or 19.33 meters. That throw broke the previous mark of 62 feet and 3.75 inches, or 18.99 meters, and Saunders made her historic throw in the rain.

Winning title in the shot put aren’t new for the Charleston, S.C. native. As a freshman at the University of Southern Illinois, she won both the indoor and outdoor titles.

She now holds the all-time NCAA shot put record for both indoor and outdoor events. Saunders' record-breaking throw ranks her fourth among all women in the world and seventh in U.S. women’s shot put history.

Suanders joins former Rebel great and Olympic gold medal winner Brittney Reese as the only woman in UM history to win an NCAA title. She will return to Eugene, Ore. later this summer to take part in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Thompson finished third last season in the javelin as a freshman in these very same championships. This season, his throw of 254 feet and 9 inches was enough to take home the title.

The sophomore from Florence, N.J. had to fend off athletes from Texas A&M University, Middle Tennessee State University and the University of Southern Misissippi to win. His throw in the final bettered his 140-feet, 11-inch throw to reach the finals.

USM junior Emron Gibbs finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 244 feet and 10 inches. The St. Andrews, Grenada native was edged out by the winners after he was able to leap into the second place going into the finals.

Currently, the Rebels women are tied for sixth place after six of 21 events in track and field championships with 10 points. The MSU men are tied for fifth place, and the UM men are tied for 39th place after seven of 21 events in the championships with 10 points and one point, respectively.

Sophomore Dempsey McGuigan from London, England finished eighth in the hammer throw, scoring the Rebels men a point.

Neither the Rebels or the Bulldogs teams are done. Both schools still have a chance to win more titles and climb up the leaderboard.

UM still hopes either sophomore Craig Engels or junior Robert Domanic break through in the men’s 1,500-meter final on Friday. Sophomore M.J. Erb is in the finals of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior Branden Greene is in the finals of the men’s high jump, and senior Ryan Walling is in the finals of the men’s 5,000-meters, also on …

Sending an email or text to an unintended recipient is something that has either happened to you or something that you fear. An email fail from the New Orleans Saints cost them a chance to add a player late last week.

When the Cleveland Browns cut quarterback Connor Shaw, his rights went on the waiver wire. The Saints put in a claim on Shaw, but instead of sending their intentions to just the league office, New Orleans emailed the other 31 clubs.

That email let the Chicago Bears know the Saints plan and claim Shaw instead. Chicago was awarded the rights to the quarterback due to having a worse 2015-2016 season than the Saints.

Shaw became expendable in Cleveland after the team signed Robert Griffin III and drafted rookie quarterback Cody Kessler and veteran Josh McCown to their roster. ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan was the first to report on the Saints email blunder.

Chicago might have had plans on claiming Shaw regardless before knowing the Saints intentions, or they could have played some gamesmanship on New Orleans. In addition to Shaw, the Bears now have starter Jay Cutler and backups Brian Hoyer, David Fales and Dalyn Williams.

New Orleans has stated that it would like to add another quarterback for training camp to go with starter Drew Brees, backup Josh McCown, brother to Luke McCown, and second year quarterback Garrett Grayson. The Saints will have to continue their search before camp opens later this month.

Former University of Mississippi cornerback Tee Shepard is one of six players eligible for this year’s NFL Supplemental Draft. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the annual summer draft will be held July 14 at 1 p.m..

Shepard is a former four-star recruit from Fresno, Calif., who originally signed with the University of Notre Dame in 2012 out of high school. He enrolled early, but a reported academic issue forced him to leave the school.

His next stop was Holmes Community College in 2012 and 2013, and he committed to Mississippi State University before flipping to the Rebels. Shepard missed the 2014 season due to a toe injury.

Shepard, who is deaf, appeared in the first five games of the 2015 season before announcing he was quitting football. He later alleged that the coaching staff cut his playing time due to the fact he was deaf.

Then came the announcement that he would transfer to Miami University in Ohio if he could graduate by May. Shepard’s graduation is now moot since he applied for and has been accepted into the supplemental draft.

Joining the former Rebel cornerback in the draft is long snapper Eddie D’Antuono out of Virginia Tech, defensive tackle Ra’Zahn Howard out of Purdue University, running back Jalen Overstreet out of Sam Houston State University, defensive end Cameron Walton out of Concordia College and wide receiver Rashaun Simonise out of the University of Calgary in Canada.

The format for the supplemental draft is …

The University of Mississippi is one of a few SEC football teams in a unique position going into this season. The Rebels have a proven starter at quarterback while most of the conference is looking for answers in that position.

Rebels quarterback Chad Kelly and University of Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs are the only returning starters who were ranked in the top five in passing yards. The rest of the top five, Dak Prescott, Brandon Allen and Jake Coker, are all in the NFL now.

Former Texas A&M University quarterback Kyle Allen, who was sixth in passing yards, is now at the University of Houston. Louisiana State University quarterback Brandon Harris, seventh in passing, might be the starter for the Tigers, but his performance was up and down at best last season.

Patrick Towles, eighth in passing, transferred from the University of Kentucky to Boston College after Drew Parker replaced him as the starter. University of Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert, ninth in passing, and University of South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth, 10th in passing, are locked in a battle for the starting job at their respective programs.

Auburn University is trying to find a starter out of a trio of quarterbacks, including two who earned playing time last season and a junior-college transfer. The University of Alabama is also working with three quarterbacks, trying to find out who will separate himself from the others.

The University of Florida has named Luke Del Rio as its new starter since both starters from last season have left the school to play elsewhere. The University of Arkansas has named Austin Allen as the player to replace Brandon Allen under center.

Texas A&M will start transfer Trevor Knight at quarterback after Kyle Allen left for Houston. The University of Missouri will have quarterback Drew Lock, who won four games in four starts last season.

Vanderbilt University will go with Kyle Shurmur at quarterback after limited playing time last season. Shurmer joins Austin Allen at Arkansas, Del Rio at Florida, and Lock at Missouri on the list of quarterbacks who have little or no starts for their respective programs.

Mississippi State University might go into the season looking for a starter between Nick Fitzgerald, Damian Williams and Nick Tiano. Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen has gone with multiple quarterbacks before, as with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow at Florida and Tyler Russell and Prescott at MSU.

Kelly and Dobbs will have a chance to lead their teams to division titles as the rest of the conference works to figure out who will take the reins at quarterback. The rare exceptions are Alabama and LSU, who both have strong defenses and powerful running games, and just need quarterbacks who won’t lose them games.

The rest of the SEC could see their bowl hopes go down in flames if they can’t find the right player under center. MSU is one of those teams …

In his final season with Jackson State University, defensive end/linebacker Javancy Jones is happy to still have a chance playing in the SWAC Championship Game. The Tigers are tied with Alcorn State University, with their homecoming game against Prairie View A&M University taking place this Saturday, Oct. 29.

Jones suffered a hyper-extended knee early in JSU’s game against Grambling State University on Sept. 17. He missed most of that game and the Tigers’ matchup against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the following week.

Even after missing nearly two full games due to injury, Jones has proven once again that he is one of the best defenders in the SWAC. He is 10th place in tackles with 41 total and 23 solo, ninth place in sacks with three, third place in tackles for a loss with 13 total, and tied for fourth place in forced fumbles with two.

This hasn’t been the perfect senior season for Jones. Beyond needing to overcome an injury, he is also trying to be there for his family while his mother deals with an illness.

Jones missed practice time right before JSU opened the season against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “I was ready physically because of the work I put in the offseason, but mentally, it has been work with my mother being sick,” Jones told the Jackson Free Press.

At the same time, he says has enjoyed seeing the improvements that the Tigers have made as the season has gone on. “JSU is in great hand with this new coaching staff,” Jones says. “The future looks bright, and I’m glad I get to be a part of the beginning.”

With this week’s game at the center of homecoming week, Jones says he talked to his teammates about staying focused on their matchup against Prairie View.

“I’ve told the guys to remember that we are the main attraction this weekend,” he says. “We needed to remember it is OK to have fun, but get home early and get rest for Saturday.”

Despite being a senior, this will actually be Jones’ third homecoming game, as Grambling State didn’t show up for his freshman homecoming game due to a team protest over athletic department conditions.

“I didn’t get a homecoming game my freshman year, so I don’t know what the younger guys are going through exactly, but I’m going to enjoy my last homecoming just a little,” he jokes.

Every team, coach and player says they take the season one week at a time, but a potential showdown with Alcorn State for the East Division title on Nov. 19 is intriguing for JSU, as that game could mean a berth in the SWAC Championship Game.

“It doesn’t matter if that game is for the division title or not,” Jones says. “My freshman year, we were in the championship game no matter the outcome, and they beat us, and the next year they were in no …

It is rare to get an inside look at what goes on in a NFL locker room after a game. Even stranger is getting to see the inside of the locker room after a playoff road win.

That is what made Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown streaming the events of the locker room so unusual. Brown shot the video with Facebook Live after the Steelers 18-16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Jan. 15.

Brown posted 18 minutes of postgame discussion from Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and other teammates speaking after the game. Tomlin has since apologized for his language in the video, but what the coach said wasn’t surprising.

Tomlin called the Patriots “aholes,” and said his team was going land at “four in the f*ing morning,” when getting home from their trip to Kansas City.

Tomlin didn’t say anything that he needed to apologize for the next day, in my opinion. Salty language in a football locker room is nothing new, and what Tomlin said is in no way near the worst of it. In a game between the New England Patriots and Houston Texans on Saturday, Jan. 14, lip readers could clearly see Patriots coach Bill Belichick drop an f-bomb when requesting a timeout.

Athletes are famous for using any type of perceived or real slight against them as motivation. Basketball great Michael Jordan was an expert at using nearly anything to fire him up for a game.

New England now has plenty of bulletin-board material to post in its locker room. It is not like the Patriots needed more motivation after quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for four games, leaving some players feeling like the league is out to get them.

What Brown posted is just another log that the Patriots can throw on the fire—even if the log they are throwing really doesn’t offer much wood to burn.

Tomlin called Brown “selfish,” “foolish” and “inconsiderate” for posting the video. If you have never been in a locker room, it is the one place where anything that is said is supposed to stay there.

It is a place where everyone is able to speak his mind, and the outside world isn’t supposed to know. That doesn’t mean things don’t get out, but normally, it is from sources speaking to the media, not live streamed on Facebook.

What is said in the locker room is like having a family meeting: You don’t let anyone outside the family hear what is said. Even when NFL Films or TV crews are in the locker room, players and coaches know and carefully sanitize what they say to avoid controversy.

Brown made the game-winning catch for a first down to run the clock out against the Chiefs. He is one of the best wide receivers in the game today, but it will be interesting to see how his teammates treat him after the video. Tomlin …

At this moment, it must feel like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over the University of Mississippi’s football program. But the question isn’t if the sword will fall but when it will.

In this case, the sword is the NCAA, and the Rebels must feel like they are hanging on by a single strand of hair a horse’s tail. UM received new notice of allegations from the NCAA, including eight more charges.

The biggest and potentially most devastating new charge is a lack of institutional control and Head Coach Hugh Freeze failing to monitor his coaching staff. As the NCAA continued to dig into the Rebels’ sports programs, the football program now has 21 violations.

Besides the lack of institutional control and Freeze’s failure to monitor, here are the seven new allegations.

A recruit was allowed to hunt on property that a booster owned while UM was recruiting him, and he was allowed to hunt again on the property after signing with the school.

From March 2014 to January 2015, a former staff member provided improper inducements in the form of lodging and transportation valued at $2,272 for two potential recruits. Both recruits signed with other programs.

A former staff member provided false and misleading information to the university and the NCAA about his involvement in recruiting violations.

Another former staff member facilitated a recruit’s meeting with two boosters to receive cash payments from $13,000 to $15,000. That recruit didn’t sign with the Rebels.

Another former staff member allowed one associate of a recruit and two other potential recruits to receive merchandise totaling $2,800 from a booster-owned store.

In 2014 a current Rebels coach made improper in-person and off-campus contact with a recruit.

A booster gave free food and drink at the booster’s restaurant that totaled between $200 and $600 in improper benefits.

Amazingly, none of the new allegations came from the draft night fallout from former offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. A screenshot of texts between Tunsil and Assistant Athletic Director John Miller concerned Tunsil getting money from Barney Farrar to play his mother’s gas bill.

Rebels Athletic Director Ross Bjork said that the school agrees that the NCAA has enough evidence to prove three of the allegations. He said the university would fight the other charges, including the lack of institutional control and Freeze’s lack of monitoring the staff.

In response to the new allegations, the Rebels imposed one-year bowl ban for the 2017 season. UM will have to forfeit its share of SEC postseason revenue for the coming season, which could be $7.8 million or more.

UM has 90 days to respond to the new notice of allegations and will have a hearing, possibly this summer, with the Committee on Infractions to discuss penalties. The committee can accept the Rebels’ self-imposed sanctions of a loss of 11 total scholarships stretched from 2015 to 2018 and the bowl ban.

The …