NCAA Strips Mississippi State of Two Scholarships, Issues Two Years of Probation

The NCAA has issued its sanctions in the case of Mississippi State's recruitment of a prospect believed to be Will Redmond. They're not the easiest in the world, but they're not exactly draconian.

State loses two scholarships in the 2012-13 year (which is almost over) and the 2013-14 year. The university also loses two official visits and four days of recruiting, as well as being barred from letting recruits in free of charge to the first two conference games. Those penalties are self-imposed, which is wise. (This is how you do such things, Gordon Gee. We might be illiterate down here in the SEC, but we know how to handle our NCAA investigations.)

The NCAA tacked on two years of probation, which is something but not a heck of a lot of something, and put a show-cause on Angelo Mirando, who had already resigned because of the investigation. It's a somewhat mild show-cause, and it only lasts for a year. That said, the bigger question might be how much that show-cause affects his employment prospects even after it expires.

The nut of the allegations:

During the recruitment, the booster exchanged more than 100 phone calls with the recruit, assisted the recruit in securing a car to drive to a campus visit and provided cash to the recruit on multiple occasions. Additionally, the booster and his friend provided a car to the recruit for approximately $2,000 below the actual value of the car. Prior to taking an official visit to a different university, the booster told the recruit that if he did not take the visit, the recruit would be paid $6,000.

Mirando essentially got in trouble for finding out about at least some of this and keeping his mouth shut. The full report is here. [PDF] Mississippi State, again wisely, has already disassociated the booster.

This is, at most, a speed bump in Dan Mullen's rebuilding efforts at Mississippi State. One of the biggest problems the Bulldogs face in the SEC West is a lack of depth vis a vis the top teams, but two scholarships isn't going to swing that one way or the other.

The problem for Mullen comes in whether it heats up a coaching seat that was already becoming a little bit warm. Mullen won't be fired for this or for another .500-or-so season -- but the combination of this and another .500-or-so season in which he fails to show much progress against the rest of the SEC West could become a problem. Particularly if Ole Miss continues to improve this year at the rate it did last year.

So for now, it doesn't look that bad. But you might want to check back in December just to be sure.