{"id":154437,"date":"2026-01-29T04:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/154437\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T04:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:32:32","slug":"ole-miss-clemson-ncaa-tampering-probe-has-new-wrinkle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/154437\/","title":{"rendered":"Ole Miss-Clemson NCAA tampering probe has new wrinkle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Fresno State has been contacted by NCAA officials, per sources. (Photo: JJ Anderson)<\/p>\n

Has anyone out there seen a consequence? A harsh tampering penalty for a major college football program? A swift punishment that served as a deterrent to others? Best I can tell, the NCAA enforcement arm doesn\u2019t consider tampering a serious infraction. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s laughable,\u201d one \u2018Power Four\u2019 head football coach told me on Wednesday. \u201cNobody\u2019s ever gotten in trouble for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That may be about to change. <\/p>\n

So give Clemson coach Dabo Swinney credit. He\u2019s cooperating with NCAA investigators on a tampering investigation involving Ole Miss. Swinney is fed up and pointing a finger. I\u2019m told by NCAA sources that investigators are now asking questions about improper contact that Ole Miss staff members allegedly had with a star Mountain West (and Pac-12 to-be) player.<\/p>\n

That player is believed to be Fresno State receiver Josiah Freeman, a sixth-year senior. He was allegedly contacted by staff associated with the Mississippi football program earlier this month, per sources. <\/p>\n

Matt Entz, the coach at Fresno State, declined to comment on Wednesday. Bulldogs\u2019 athletic director, Garrett Klassy, isn\u2019t talking, either. I\u2019m told by NCAA sources that Freeman provided screenshots of the communications. <\/p>\n

\u201cFresno State has receipts,\u201d the source said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s true,\u201d the \u2018Power Four\u2019 head coach told me, \u201cthe kid ought to be held up as a hero.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno State has been contacted by NCAA officials, per sources. (Photo: JJ Anderson) Has anyone out there seen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-154437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}