Report indicates this Mississippi State player has most to lose from Ole Miss scandal
.JPG "In this Feb. 5, 2015, file photo, Brookhaven High School football player Leo Lewis announces his decision to attend Mississippi State during a signing day event at the school in Brookhaven, Miss. Mississippi State players Lewis and Kobe Jones have, according to court documents, told the NCAA they received free merchandise from a clothing store while on recruiting trips to Ole Miss, something that would violate NCAA rules. They did so after being granted limited immunity by the NCAA, which protects them from being declared ineligible for wrongdoing as long as they told the truth.")
Mississippi State linebacker Leo Lewis became public enemy No. 1 for many Ole Miss fans when two years ago he alleged he was given money by Ole Miss during his recruitment. As the dust still settles from the recruiting scandal that involved both teams, it appears the rising junior is the most vulnerable of all the parties involved.
SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey’s comprehensive report on the NCAA’s six-year investigation into wrongdoings at Ole Miss detailed the main players involved and their actions that led the NCAA to hand Ole Miss a one-year bowl ban, four years of probation, financial penalties and the loss of 13 scholarships. As Godfrey explained in his reporting, the Bulldogs linebacker who added a new level of bitterness to the Egg Bowl rivalry may ultimately be hit the hardest for his involvement.
Lewis spoke with an NCAA investigator in August 2016. Among the various benefits he told the investigator about was how he was given approximately $400 worth of merchandise from Rebel Rags, a merchandise store in Oxford.
Last June, the lawyer of Terry Warren, owner of Rebel Rags, filed suit against Lewis for defamation, slander, conspiracy and commercial disparagement. The suit is built on the basis that Lewis made false statements to the NCAA, which in turn hurt Warren’s business.
The suit also names fellow Mississippi State player Kobe Jones, former Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, NCAA investigator Mike Sheridan, the NCAA itself and former Ole Miss player Laremy Tunsil’s former stepfather Lindsey Miller.
As Godfrey explained in his reporting, “Lewis likely only spoke to the NCAA because he received conditional immunity — a promise from the NCAA that if he told them the truth, he wouldn’t lose his eligibility for anything he’d done or received to that point of his collegiate career.” The governing body, however, cannot grant that same immunity in a court of law.
Among the issues Godfrey pointed out in Lewis’ NCAA interview was that Lewis claimed his $400 items were paid for with a gift card; Warren’s lawyer, Charles Merkel Jr., argued no gift cards were used at Rebel Rags on those specific days, nor was there a gift card at the time that could hold over $300. Lewis also said security tags were removed by Rebel Rags employees, while Merkel stated Rebel Rags doesn’t use security tags.
If Ole Miss’ appeal to the NCAA is denied, the governing body’s sanctions would force Ole Miss to disassociate from Rebel Rags indefinitely, which would have an even bigger negative effect on the business.
The suit threatens to take Lewis’ current and future earnings, while other prominent people in the NCAA's investigation such as former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze walked away with very few repercussions (Freeze, who resigned last July, received a two-game suspension which would only be invoked if he were a head coach in 2018).
As Godfrey explained, it is unclear why Lewis cooperated with the NCAA, but the looming consequences should be noted by student-athletes who could one day wind up in the same position.
“Leo Lewis is nothing if not a PSA to any current or future student-athlete: Never, ever talk to the NCAA,” Godfrey wrote. “If Lewis loses his case, and one day makes it to the NFL, whatever money he’s yet to even make could end up in the bank account of a T-shirt store in a town filled with people who hate him.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Report indicates this Mississippi State player has most to lose from Ole Miss scandal."