The Southern Mississippi men’s basketball team has self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2014-15 season, the program announced in a statement Tuesday night. The ban means that the Golden Eagles will not participate in the 2015 Conference USA Tournament or any other postseason tournament that the team may have otherwise qualified for.
Southern Miss basketball announces self-imposed postseason ban
An already tough situation for first-year Southern Miss head coach Doc Sadler got a little bit tougher on Tuesday.
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
The ban comes while the NCAA is continuing to investigate Southern Miss for potential rules violations involving “Prop 48” recruits during the watch of former head coach Donnie Tyndall. Tyndall is now in his first season as the head coach at Tennessee.
“I am saddened and extremely disappointed for the members of our men’s basketball team, who will not be able to participate in the postseason this year, as well as for our new coaching staff and fans,” Southern Miss athletic director Bill McGillis said in the statement. “This self-imposed penalty was a painful, but necessary, decision based on information gathered during the review process and available to the university at this time.”
According to a November report by Bleacher Report’s Jason King, Tyndall brought several “Prop 48” players -- recruits who had been deemed ineligible by the NCAA coming out of high school or junior college -- to Southern Miss and had them enroll in classes while they waited to become eligible to receive scholarships. The players, who were almost all from out-of-state, lived in off-campus apartments and took classes until they earned the necessary credits to become eligible. The problem is that no one seems to know how all of this was paid for.
There's no knowledge of exactly who the NCAA is investigating, but it is worth noting that three players on Southern Mississippi's 2014-15 roster -- Shadell Millinghaus, Matt Bingaya and Davon Hayes -- are former Prop 48 recruits who were late declared ineligible.
Under the guidance of new head coach Doc Sadler, Southern Miss is off to a 5-11 start this season, which includes an 0-5 mark in Conference USA.
Apparently the players aren’t handling the latest bit of bad news in the middle of an already rough season especially well.
Southern Miss players refused to practice today after being notified of the postseason ban, sources told ESPN.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) January 21, 2015 The Golden Eagles are scheduled to play at Rice Thursday night.
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