Report: Ole Miss confirms texts between Tunsil, school official
The text message conversations between former Ole Miss tackle Laremy Tunsil and a school athletics official published to Tunsil’s Instagram account the night of the NFL Draft did take place, according to a report from ESPN’s Outside the Lines.
The report says “Ole Miss officials determined” the conversations, which showed Tunsil asking Ole Miss assistant athletic director John Miller for money, are legitimate. However, the school “is still looking into whether the messages were altered before they were published,” the report says.
Certain texts from February 2015 showed Tunsil asking Miller for help paying his rent. Miller responds by telling Tunsil to “see Barney next week,” apparently in reference to Ole Miss assistant athletic director for high school and junior college relations Barney Farrar. Other messages from April 2015 show Tunsil asking Miller for assistance paying his mother’s $305 light bill.
“Wow, for one month??? I thought we all agreed on an amt- that number keeps changing. Someone needs to explain exact cost- I have no way of handling surprise amounts,” Miller says in a series of messages.
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The messages were posted to Tunsil’s Instagram account (which has since been deleted) during the first round of the NFL Draft on April 28 without Tunsil’s knowledge. After he was chosen No. 13 overall by the Miami Dolphins, Tunsil was asked about the messages and admitted to taking money from a Rebels coach. He was then whisked off of the podium by a PR rep.
Ole Miss had already been under NCAA investigation, including for past issues involving Tunsil, a star offensive tackle. Tunsil was suspended for the first seven games of the 2015 season while the NCAA investigation lingered. The school announced in October it was informed by the NCAA that Tunsil accepted extra benefits, including the use of three loaner vehicles without payment.
Many of those transgressions came to light as a result of an alleged incident of domestic violence involving Tunsil’s estranged stepfather, Lindsey Miller. Tunsil and Miller filed domestic violence charges against one another following an alleged June 28, 2015 incident. Miller said Tunsil became violent when Miller confronted him about interactions with agents, who were said to be present for the altercation. Tunsil said he was defending his mother, who filed for divorce from Miller earlier this month.
Though the charges were later dropped, Miller has since, on April 26, filed a suit (for “assault and battery, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress”) against Tunsil. In that lawsuit, Miller requested to depose Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze. Attorneys for Freeze Tuesday asked the court to limit the coach’s deposition to solely written questions which relate to the incident between Tunsil and Miller and conversations Freeze may have had with Tunsil about it. Freeze’s attorneys, with the looming NCAA investigation in mind, also asked the judge to seal the coach’s deposition from the general public.
"As the plaintiff has acknowledged, the general public has great interest in information about Defendant, soon to be an NFL player," Freeze's attorneys wrote in the motion. "In addition, the general public has great interest in Freeze and the Ole Miss football program. At this time, the NCAA is considering allegations against the University and its football program, including allegations related to Defendant. The parties should use information disclosed in this litigation solely for purposes of discovering facts relevant to the claims and defenses in this litigation."
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According to ESPN, Miller’s attorney said he hopes to “reveal the indentity of the two men who were with Tunsil on the night of the alleged incident.” From ESPN:
Miller's attorney, Matthew Wilson of Starkville, Mississippi, has asked the court to allow him to depose Freeze because he released a statement shortly after the incident, in which he wrote: "This incident occurred Thursday night and involves Laremy defending his mother against his stepfather. Laremy realizes he could have handled it differently, but I am proud of him for standing up for his mother and protecting his family."
Wilson told the court he also wants to depose Freeze to reveal the identity of two men who were with Tunsil on the night of the alleged assault. According to court transcripts, Miller alleged the men pulled Tunsil off Miller during the fight. In previous court proceedings, Tunsil identified the men as a friend named "Zo" from South Carolina and an agent who was attempting to represent Tunsil once he turned pro.
ESPN’s reporting revealed the agent in question to be Isaac Conner, of Knoxville, Tennessee-based Allegiant Athletic Agency. From ESPN:
Documents obtained by Outside the Lines from the Regulation and Enforcement Division of the Office of the Secretary of State of Mississippi showed that an agent was penalized for making direct contact with a student-athlete from a Mississippi educational institution and a member of that athlete's immediate family on or about June 25, 2015. The agent allegedly met with the athlete and his family without making prior written notification to Ole Miss, which is required under state law.
Through a public records request, Outside the Lines confirmed that athlete was Tunsil. The agent, Isaac Conner, executive vice president and general counsel of Allegiant Athletic Agency, or A3 Athletics, in Knoxville, Tennessee, was fined $250 for not notifying Ole Miss of his planned contact with Tunsil and his family.
As for the leaked text message conversations (along with the leaked marijuana smoking video posted to Tunsil's Twitter account), multiple reports have indicated that a former financial adviser to Tunsil may have been the culprit. ESPN’s reporting backs this up.
From ESPN:
Tunsil's agents and attorneys are investigating his relationship with a former business manager/financial adviser and trying to determine what role, if any, the man might have played in accessing Tunsil's Twitter and Instagram accounts during the NFL draft, people familiar with the situation told Outside the Lines last month.
Tunsil hired a man to work as his business manager and financial adviser in mid-October, about two and a half months before his junior season with the Rebels ended, according to the sources. The man scheduled agents' meetings with Tunsil and his mother and handled other duties for him.
The business manager was fired after other agents informed Tunsil that the man wasn't licensed or registered to work as a financial adviser but was a "runner," a term used to describe someone who gives money and other benefits to entice a player to sign with an agent or financial adviser with whom the runner is working.
The sources said the business manager gave Tunsil a new cellphone in mid-October. People close to Tunsil believe the man might have accessed Tunsil's social media accounts before the draft by logging into them through his old phone.
Tunsil has declined to comment on the situation since joining the Dolphins.
When it comes to the NCAA investigation into Ole Miss, if this new information changes anything in its initial investigation, the NCAA could send the school an amended notice of allegations.
When a school is involved with a notice of allegations – which Ole Miss was sent in January related to violations in football, women’s basketball and track – and new information surfaces, the school and the NCAA work together to find out the details of the new allegations. If it’s determined an additional violation was committed, it goes through the NCAA infractions process.
Yahoo’s Pat Forde reported last month that “further investigation” into Ole Miss by the NCAA had “undoubtedly” begun in light of the Tunsil situation.
After the draft, Freeze told reporters he was "shocked" by Tunsil's admission and declared that he knew "nothing."
“I know nothing,” Freeze said. “I’m not involved in the fact-finding process. I was shocked like everyone else living it out in real time but confident that our administration is going to find the facts and then give us a new report on it.”
For more Ole Miss news, visit RebelGrove.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
