The NCAA has placed Ole Miss on two years of probation and fined the school $455,000 after a former men's basketball assistant had recruiting conversations with the advisor of a player at another school. The case, announced Oct. 23 by the NCAA, was resolved through a negotiated agreement.

16 Calls and 10 Texts Before the Transfer Portal

According to the NCAA, former assistant Wes Flanigan had 16 phone calls and exchanged 10 text messages with the advisor while the player was still at his school and not in the transfer portal. The player later entered the portal, never visited Ole Miss, did not get a scholarship offer and transferred somewhere else.

Flanigan received a one-year show-cause order with a two-game suspension and recruiting communication limits. He is now an assistant at Georgia Tech, and Saturday Down South noted the penalties carry no restrictions for Georgia Tech.

A Booster From the 2017 Case Kept Giving

The case also found that Ole Miss failed to monitor its program. The school was supposed to cut ties with a booster as part of its 2017 infractions case, but the NCAA said that booster made 18 contributions worth about $109,240 to the athletics foundation and received premium game seating while disassociated. The booster must be disassociated for two more years.

Head coach Chris Beard was held responsible under head coach responsibility rules but received no penalty, because the NCAA found he was not involved and did not know about the contact. The program also took short bans on recruiting communication and visits.

Negotiated resolutions cannot be appealed. Follow the Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball season on BallerTube.