NCAA has nothing on Tunsil and Ole Miss unless they cooperate

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We've seen this before. In the North Carolina academic scandal case, former North Carolina basketball player Rashad McCants gave an interview saying that the basketball program had been complicit in helping him cheat in school. But since McCants chose not to meet with the NCAA, it did not take any of his words into account in its allegations against the school. Moreover, the association did not take into account an entire book about the scandal written by former UNC learning specialist Mary Willingham, nor did it follow the timetable of the scandal that was determined by a fairly voluminous independent report.

The NCAA needs Tunsil. Tunsil doesn't need the NCAA. That puts Ole Miss at a significant advantage when it comes to avoiding penalties.

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For now and for the foreseeable future, Ole Miss has plausible deniability. The school can just claim Tunsil was confused on draft night—and really, who wasn't?—since he said earlier in his post-selection press conference that he had not received any payments. Moreover, those around Tunsil, such as his estranged stepfather, seem to be out to get him, which perhaps doesn't make them credible or reliable witnesses. Important note: the NCAA already has spoken to Tunsil's stepfather, and it doesn't appear to be on the verge of dropping a major punishment on the Ole Miss program.

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