{"id":155405,"date":"2026-01-29T20:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155405\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T20:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:36:10","slug":"fresno-state-joins-clemson-with-tampering-allegations-against-ole-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/155405\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno State Joins Clemson with Tampering Allegations Against Ole Miss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/clemson\/football\/where-things-stand-regarding-clemson-ncaa-with-the-luke-ferrelli-situation\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clemson-Ole Miss tampering fiasco<\/a> has been all the rage, and more fuel was just added to the fire.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">According to reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncanzano.com\/p\/canzano-ole-miss-clemson-ncaa-tampering\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Canzano<\/a>, NCAA investigators have been working closely with Fresno State\u2019s athletic department this week, and some daunting allegations have come to light. Allegedly, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/olemiss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ole Miss<\/a> staff member made improper contact and tampered with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/college-football\/team\/fresno-state-bulldogs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bulldogs<\/a>\u2019 leading receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/player\/_\/id\/5092483\/josiah-freeman\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josiah Freeman<\/a>. He finished the 2025-26 season with 52 receptions for 642 yards and six touchdowns.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">Freeman, a sixth-year senior, was <a href=\"https:\/\/247sports.com\/college\/fresno-state\/article\/fresno-state-josiah-freeman-wide-receiver-wr-gets-extra-eligibility-returning-in-2026-269377313\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA<\/a> in consideration of a season-ending injury Freeman suffered in 2024. He entered the portal in early January, but Fresno State has been monitoring the situation closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5w\">\u201cFresno State has receipts,\u201d a source said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">But the receipts against Ole Miss seem to be stacking up. Freeman is the sequel to Ole Miss\u2019 tampering saga, with episode one consisting of Clemson\u2019s controversial Luke Ferrelli situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\"><a href=\"https:\/\/clemsontigers.com\/sports\/football\/roster\/luke-ferrelli\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ferrelli<\/a>, a former Cal linebacker and ACC Rookie of the Year, joined the Tigers through the portal and committed to play for head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/clemsontigers.com\/coaches\/dabo\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dabo Swinney<\/a> in 2026. After buying an apartment in Clemson, attending practices, meetings and classes, Ferrelli dramatically swapped to Ole Miss.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Swinney sounded off on the situation in a press conference last Friday, where he backed up his claims with detailed receipts, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/clemson\/football\/the-day-by-day-timeline-involving-luke-ferrelli-clemson-departure-alleged-tampering\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">including timestamps and specific text messages<\/a> outlining million-dollar buyouts involving Ferrelli.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/clemson\/football\/dabo-swinney-has-a-message-for-all-college-football-coaches\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">He challenged the rest of the college football landscape<\/a> to join him in a stand against college football\u2019s corruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">\u201cI want to challenge all of those coaches that have reached out to me. I want to challenge all of them. \u2029You need to step up and call it out.\u201d Swinney said. \u201cOtherwise, don&#8217;t complain. You either step up and you be an example to young coaches in this profession and be people of integrity or just shut your mouth and don&#8217;t complain again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">Swinney\u2019s message was heard. First, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/clemson\/football\/ncaa-confirms-involvement-in-former-clemson-transfer-luke-ferrelli-tampering-case\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NCAA confirmed that they were involved in the situation<\/a>. Then, <a href=\"https:\/\/gobulldogs.com\/staff-directory\/matt-entz\/3051\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Entz<\/a>, the head coach at Fresno State, stepped up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">\u201cI&#8217;ve had a bunch of coaches over the last week that have reached out to me,\u201d Swinney said. \u201cAnd they&#8217;re going, \u2018Well, let me tell you what&#8217;s happened to me. Let me tell you what I know. \u2029Let me tell you my story.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6h\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.al.com\/sports\/2026\/01\/a-second-school-has-reportedly-turned-ole-miss-in-for-tampering-with-one-of-its-players.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Entz declined to comment on Wednesday,<\/a> and so did athletic director Garrett Klassy. However, Klassy did inform that NCAA investigators have been working with Fresno State officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">Initially, Swinney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/clemson\/football\/paul-finebaum-blasts-dabo-swinney-handling-ole-miss-tampering-allegations-\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">received some heat for his public accusations,<\/a> but he might have begun a revolution. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Clemson-Ole Miss tampering fiasco has been all the rage, and more fuel was just added to the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-155405","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\/155405","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=155405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}