The basketball program at Southern Miss is under investigation by the NCAA for potential violations under former coach Donnie Tyndall, now at Tennessee.
According to a report, the NCAA is investigating potential rules violations within the basketball program at Southern Miss under former coach Donnie Tyndall.
Bleacher Report’s Jason King, citing a source close to the program, reported that the probe centers on tuition, living expenses and other fees paid for Proposition 48 recruits who signed with the Golden Eagles but were not academically eligible upon arriving on campus from high school or junior college.
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The players weren’t on scholarship, but it is alleged the players enrolled in classes, lived in off-campus housing and spent a year earning the necessary academic credit to be eligible to play.
That’s standard procedure under Prop 48. But the financial support the players are alleged to have gotten is not allowed.
“The s—t is about to hit the fan,” the source said.
Tyndall left the program last spring when he was hired by Tennessee to replace Cuonzo Martin, who left to coach at California.
At Tennessee, Martin had replaced Bruce Pearl, who was fired in 2011 for lying to the NCAA about rules violations.
According to King, three players on Southern Miss’ roster this year—Shadell Milllinghaus, Matt Bingaya and Davon Hayes—committed to the program under Tyndall and entered school as Prop 48 recruits.
It’s not known if any of those players are at the center of the inquiry. Tyndall signed other players who are no longer with the program who arrived as Prop 48 recruits.
Tyndall, 44, was a head coach at St. Catharine College, a JUCO, in 1996-97, and after stints as an assistant at LSU, Idaho and Middle Tennessee, landed his first Division I head coaching job at Morehead State in 2006. After six years and a 114-85 record at Morehead, Tyndall spent the last two seasons at Southern Miss, where his teams were 56-17, but missed the NCAA tournament each year.
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