Report: MSU LB Leo Lewis received over $20,000 during recruitment; his mother alleges $650,000 payment from LSU
The NCAA’s investigation into Ole Miss may be over but the drama surrounding the events revolving around the case heading into the Sept. 11 hearing with the Committee on Infractions continues to rage on in Mississippi.
The latest bit of news comes from Steven Godfrey of SB Nation. In an article published Friday, Godfrey alleges Mississippi State linebacker Leo Lewis took over $21,000 from “multiple SEC programs” leading up to National Signing Day in 2015. If you recall his recruitment, Lewis was committed to Ole Miss but decommitted during the dead period just before signing day.
Following that decision, Lewis obviously signed with MSU over LSU and Ole Miss.
Per Godfrey’s report, attorneys for Ole Miss allege Lewis was paid $11,000 to sign with Mississippi State. While Lewis claims an Ole Miss booster paid him $10,000 during his recruitment.
In exchange for his testimony, Lewis was granted immunity by the NCAA, however, that immunity does not extend to Mississippi State. So if it’s proven the school had any role in the payments, the NCAA would not likely go easy on Dan Mullen’s program.
Another interesting note from the article alleges an audio tape exists of a conversation between Lewis’ mother and former Ole Miss assistant Barney Farrar — Farrar has since been fired from Ole Miss as a result of the NCAA investigation. In the tape, Lewis’ mother alleges to have been offered $650,000 from LSU and $80,000 from Mississippi State during her son’s recruitment. It’s not stated if either statement is factual.
Lewis has been called to appear for the Sept. 11 hearing with the Committee on Infractions. It’s worth noting that Mississippi State will be coming off a Sept. 9 game at Louisiana Tech and preparing for a Sept. 16 game against LSU that week.
Well, well, well…this could get very interesting.
$650,000. This woman is an idiot.
Yeah, that sounds like fishing for $$$. No way someone pays that much for a single payer.
*player
I find $650,000 hard to believe, but it could’ve just been her method of shopping him around to different schools that were bidding on him. “State gave $80k. LSU is giving $650k. If Ole Miss wants him, it’ll be $750k.”
And before people start saying the whole, “Why would he sign with State for $80k if LSU offered $650k?” To answer simply, just because you’re getting paid $650k doesn’t mean you’re getting it all at one time. Maybe State could get him the 80 up front. Says in the article he was desperate for money because he just had a baby and his dad just went to prison. Just food for thought.
That’s alot of money for him not to sign with LSU…. That doesn’t add up.
Well he didn’t sign with Ole Miss and he claims he still got paid. Best guess is he was getting paid in installments and that was the agreed upon total amounts that he would receive once all of the payments were made. IRS gonna start snooping if you give away $80 or $650 grand at one time, but you could probably hide it with a good accountant over the course of a 4 year college career with payments to multiple family members.
Did ole miss pay him 650k?…. I love it. When this first started you denied everything. Then when it came out what Ole Miss did you started crying and calling him a liar. Now that it’s other teams you’re trying to point out how it probably sent down……..You know that it doesn’t matter what they find out about the others Ole Miss still cheated?
Went
I challenge you to find a comment of me ever denying everything. I’ve been pretty much on the side of “everyone cheats to an extent” and I’ve only posted things that Ole Miss has released in their official responses, which is all I can go on. I think you have me confused with someone else.
And I’m not saying Ole Miss paid him $650k, LEO HIMSELF is saying that it was LSU that paid him that much. I’m saying that there was probably a bidding war (which apparently MSU won) and that his payment was going to be in installments.
So you never called him a liar?
Oh, I definitely call him a liar. That I’ll admit. I never denied anything about the allegations, though. I thought that was what you were referring to. I do believe he lied. It’s documented that he changed his story 3 times, cannot produce any evidence of merchandise he claims to have received from Rebel Rags, is on record as saying things that are not possible (such as the security tags at Rebel Rags, when the store has never used them) and several other things. The NCAA is even calling him a liar when they say his testimony is not credible enough to warrant an investigation into MSU.
So you called him a liar but now it’s about other teams you lay out what likely happened…..
So I’m basically not allowed to look at anything that’s possibly changed or come out since last February and adjust my opinion? That’s what you call being uninformed and lazy. I’m not one to blindly back what someone else says without doing my own research. I said then, and say now, that Lewis is lying about things. To what extent is still to be determined. Do I think Ole Miss paid him? Probably. Do I think we were the only ones? Not at all.
The funny part is that State fans begging for an Ole Miss death penalty might actually see their school getting one for paying a player while they are already on probation for the same thing! Oh, the irony.
Nah, we’re good. The NCAA really wants Ole Miss for some reason.
This is the best part of the SB nation article:
“The letter, which was obtained by SB Nation, alleges that NCAA enforcement confirmed to Ole Miss that they had “quickly opened and subsequently closed” the investigation because Lewis’s statements about receiving money from Mississippi State were deemed to be “ultimately… not sufficiently credible to support an allegation.”
Basically, the NCAA wants Ole Miss and doesn’t care how they get them. Leo’s story is only deemed credible when it hurts Ole Miss and nobody else. Are any boosters from these other schools going to be disassociated? Probably not. Are any other schools going to be punished for paying Leo? Probably not.
That is literally my comment (Fins Up Rebels) on SB Nation.
I agree with that. They say Leo’s testimony is good enough to charge Ole Miss, yet turn around and say his testimony is not “deemed sufficiently credible” to charge MSU. Shows it’s pretty clear they only want one school.
legit. it’s coming
This is just more diversion from an ole miss mouthpiece at sbnation. These ppl have defended ole miss and Hugh freeze and tried to deflect all the blame on Leo. They have way more probs than Leo. Looks at the NOA. Now look at the escort service stuff and use some logic. Only one school in Miss started pulling outlandish recruits in an illogical,unexplainable fashion and it wasn’t State. If states been cheating signing a bunch of two and three stars then somebody should be reimbursed some money. This report is more alledged accusations without any proof. So does anyone really believe a tape exist? Somebodies hoodwinking rebel fans and the fans keep falling for it.
Which specific allegation in the NOA (outside of the Leo Lewis stuff) is the worst one in your opinion? I’m sure you’ve read it all. Was it the Level 1 that said a player spent the night on a coach’s couch after he was evicted? Or maybe the Level 1 where an FCA leader gave a recruit a ride to the Ole Miss campus a few times?
Lets not mention tunsil….
Tunsil sat out 7 games for his loaner car. What other Tunsil allegation do you think there is? He is also technically listed because his step dad got a free meal on a recruiting visit, which was not permissible at the time because he was only engaged to Tunsil’s mother and not legally married yet (the issue was not raised because Miller presented himself as Tunsil’s step father, not as his future step father). Big gotcha there from the NCAA.
How many level 1 violations were there?….
13 if I recall, 7 of which involve the new Leo Lewis allegations. Take those 7 away and you have:
1.) Player sleeping on a coach’s couch.
2.) FCA leader providing a recruit with rides to campus (only had 3 years of prior relationship with recruit, NCAA says must have 4 years to not be illegal).
3.) Former staff member providing false information (pre-Freeze)
4.) Former staff member providing false information (pre-Freeze)
5.) Fixed ACT scores (pre-Freeze)
6.) $800 payment to recruit (Tunsil’s) step dad
This is why so much is being made of whether Lewis is telling the truth or not. You take out the Lewis allegations and it’s all peanuts.
It’s 21…. You should look again….
I may be wrong. It seems as it may be 15 as of june..
It may be 15, but if you take out the 7 that involve Leo Lewis in the new NOA, it’s still chicken scratch charges. The school is contesting most of the level one’s due to classification. We are getting level 1’s and 2′ for charges that schools got 2’s and 3’s for that were twice as bad as ours.
The money to tunsil is not chicken scratch. I understand the money amount but because of who it was that provided it makes it not chicken scratch as you put it.
Well did Leo take part in the ACT fraud violations? Was he part of women’s Bball violations that got coach fired? Did Freeze resign because of Leo’s testimony? Is that why Texas fired former ole miss coach that was involved. David sanders at ULL? Man, Leo has some swag to make that many heads roll
What you have are systemic problems from the top down. I’m sure most every school has a few rogue boosters that cause problems but ole miss has internal probs.
Everything you just named happened before the current AD and coaching staff was on campus, except for the women’s basketball stuff. That was discovered and Bjork immediately fired all of the people involved. Also, the ACT investigated the claims of fixed scores and determined that the scores were properly verified. David Saunders has a lawsuit pending over this.
this poor alabama guy.. Obviously a 1/2 assed football fan. Just hates that the tide lost twice in certain could’ve lost 3 times in a row to the rebels.Alabama was on probation before saban got there but they all seem to remember it ..We self imposed our penalties and that’s it period it is over except for now figuring out what happened at msu..and Mississippi state . Worry about your own program
funny stuff. you just dont get it. No one Said there was not enough blame to go around but there’s enough blame to go around. Mullen should have gotten his rare 4 star player and told him to shut up but he didn’t do it.He decided to use him as a weapon…Mississippi state fans have absolutely been drinking the punch This will be fun
Couldn’t be that Mullen told his player to just be honest and tell the truth, could it? That would also explain everything too. Ole Miss fans can’t seem to be able to conceive of someone just being honest. Wonder why that is?
If what that SBNation article states is true, the NCAA is completely FUBARed. They can’t bring down Ole Miss without getting Miss State and possibly someone else. I think we’ll see them accept Ole Miss’s self-imposed punishment and bury this in the back yard. Any other outcome, and a good lawyer will take them to the woodshed.
Sure they can. It’s the NCAA.
True, no one has ever accused them of being honest, fair, and impartial. It would likely blow up in their face like Penn State.
Maybe but PSU still paid for it
..
Godfrey is an ole Miss grad and homer. There is nothing new in his article that wasn’t known months ago. Well, at least known by those that should know.
Just how exactly did Godfrey happen to get access to confidential transcripts of private testimony Lewis gave the NCAA? Is this Ole Miss leaking stuff to sympathetic press, again? Aren’t they currently being (about to refile I presume) being sued for just that? Yeah, that’s going to help the COI go lightly on them.
There is nothing of substance here. There is zero proof that MSU paid Lewis to sign. The fact that he told people long before signing day that he was going to play other schools for money and sign with MSU anyway makes me tend to believe we didn’t. Its possible we did anyway, but nothing Ole Miss has is proof of that.
Ole Miss and Ole Miss grads have controlled the media in MS for years. But now this is a national story and journalists without a dog in the fight are telling it like it is. And Ole Miss is scrambling to redirect the conversation.
Isn’t going to work. Your day is coming. Soon.
Now you’re sounding like an ole miss fan that you’ve been making fun of. I love how it all comes full circle hahahaha
You need to increase your luvox dose.
Have fun with that two year bowl ban haha
Again, SECond to None/Rebel_Landsharks, you’re embarrassing yourself. Don’t jump the gun. State is barely under question right now, if at all.
Have fun with your two year bowl ban too
How contributing to the conversation. I bet people can’t wait to be around you – someone with the attention span of a gnat.
Says the guy with no friends who’s on here 24/7
Says the guy who comments 10 minutes before this very post! How? Because you’re on here just as much, little boy.
Obviously you can’t read time because it says 6 hours after yours. No wonder your state is the worst for education
You know which post I responded to, hick. How dumb are you? Don’t people like you typically bite it in weed whacker mishaps? People like you usually fall in that 1%. Either that or nail gun accidents. Hurry up and get there.
Says the guys from the most uneducated state
Dang I wonder what Jeffrey Simmons go. He signed with state before he beat the hell out of that woman.
I do know Simmons got a new dodge truck fully loaded . Kinda cheap for a player of his caliber apparently.
The Clarion-Ledger said Ole miss had three current players found guilty of domestic abuse at the time of that incident. And since CL is usually biased toward Ole Miss, are you sure you want to bring Simmons up?
I don’t care what happens or when, as long as Mississippi State eats it. In fact, the program getting penalized is really the only way to jab the fanbase. I couldn’t care less about Mississippi State’s program, to be honest. It’s just the fanbase I hate.
Did MADD investigate Daks DUI . How much money did it cost to cover up an admission of guil?
Dak admitted to having drinks that night. He didn’t admit to being impaired or over the legal limit. That is for law enforcement to decide. There wasn’t proof that he was, so charges were dropped. He was willing to accept responsibility for his actions. What he did is polar opposite of how Ole miss administration, coaches, staff and fans have acted and to be frank, they could all learn something from dak.
I love how this guy is getting so butthurt haha
SECond to None (stolen username), Stategrad is right. You can’t troll someone who’s right.
I’m right in that he’s butthurt
You’re right in that you’re an idiot, too. We can play that game if you want.
Says the guy from the least uneducated state
The least uneducated state… Thanks! Oh, the irony! How one trips up while calling out someone else’s intelligence. It must be painful to be you.
Says the guy from the most uneducated state
The irony remains. You’re an idiot and that can’t be reversed. Nice try, though!
Says the guy from the most uneducated state…..
Let me check something… Yup! Still a dumbass.
Says the guy from the most uneducated state….
Don’t contradict yourself. You said I’m from the least uneducated state. Care to clarify?
Yeah, Mississippi. The dumbest state in the country. Congratulations
Lol. If LSU had 650k to drop on Lewis, they’d be suing to get their money back while he was riding the pine behind Riley, Beckwith, etc. What a joke. Not even Bama pays that much and they print their own money.
I’m pretty sure Lewis is a true freshman. So, no.
He is clueless and still tries to take a shot at bama..
The claim by the mom is absolutely ridiculous. If LSU is offering $650K for ONE player………………it better be for a %#$%#@ Quarterback!!!!
Yeah, this doesn’t add up. Plus, didn’t they already say there was a short investigation into State and it has long since been closed?
You hope.
Nah, I checked. The investigation into State has already been closed. Unless they start something new, we’ve got nothing to worry about.
Rut roh Raggy!
Ole Miss has been hiding phone calls behind their ‘foundation’, but one of you guys tell me, if Nutt refiles his suit, can’t he subpoena the phone records? All of them.
Of your last 30 posts, only 1 isn’t about Ole Miss. The cat is out of the bag; you have a crush for Ole Miss. I mean the signs are there! It certainly appears you have a longing for Ole Miss! Follow the light. The food is better up here. The water is cleaner. The women are hotter. The neighborhoods are nicer. The tailgating is better. More amenities… It’s unhealthy to reside in that smorgasbord of meth, high school drop-outs, pregnant 13 year-olds, and seedy bars. We’ll accept you. Just leave that blasphemous cattle bell where it belongs… around Bulldawgrock’s mother’s neck.
You actually looked at his last 30 post? You are a BootyBuster! Did you get your gender operation while you were in the military?
Are you anti-Military
Right now the Ole Miss circus is more interesting, I admit. The women? If you mean ones who sleep with NCAA investigators until their in investigation is over, yeah. The 13 year old’s though I’ll leave to Freeze. Truth is I used to root for Ole Miss until it got to where I couldn’t deal with their arrogance. I’ve got relative who went the and we still talk. Not ALL of them are asses. Mississippi catches so much hell from all sides we ought to stick together, but Ole Miss fans like you make that so hard to do. I understand you wanting to win, so I can understand the slight cheating. It’s just when you are caught and refuse to face reality I don’t understand. The Ole Miss administration has initially lied on every single thing that’s happened. You should get rid of the entire administration because if they had any competence at all they would have wanted this all to go away as soon as possible. But noooo, they have to drag it out. That’s what makes me wonder if they are hiding something truly mind-blowing. Think about it; if they had made a quick settlement with Nutt, this would all be over by now and Freeze might still be there. Ole Miss’s reaction has been EXACTLY like how a religious cult would have reacted. If the church of Scientology had a football team, this is how they would react. These are supposedly intelligent people and they are self-destructing and trying blame everyone else. Ole Miss’s first explanation was sort of a “everybody else does it” and now I’m waiting for “the devil made me do it”. One can’t help but wonder when these people will wake up and want this gone instead of perpetuating it. The hell with whether Nutt was right, you should have settled and got it behind you. This is a school of lawyers?
I’m enjoying the butthurt from the worst school in the conference haha
I’m enjoying the butthurt from the worst school in the conference
Glad to see you’re paying attention, keep on and maybe you’ll learn something. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; fan is short for fanatic and combining football and religion in the South results in people like you. If enlightenment won’t help you I’m at a loss, but any way I can help you face reality just ask.
Still butthurt I see hahaha
Seriously? If MSU was going to pay 80k to someone, they would have paid it to Cam Newton…
Enjoy your bowl ban