Ole Miss AD Ross Bjork believes ruling on NCAA appeal could come ‘any week now’
By Jake Rill
Published:
Nine weeks after Ole Miss appealed the punishment handed down by the NCAA Committee on Infractions, the school is still waiting for a response.
But athletics director Ross Bjork believes that could be coming soon.
“I’ve kind of held the same belief that [the final ruling] would come sometime this fall,” Bjork told 247sports.com. “Obviously, that clock is ticking. I think it could be pretty much any week now. We’re just waiting.”
The Rebels received an additional year to their bowl ban in 2018, restrictions and probation regarding their unofficial visitors and lack of institutional control. It all stems from recruiting violations that occurred under former coach Hugh Freeze.
The NCAA appeals committee will notify Ole Miss 24 hours in advance of when its ruling will be released to the public.
In his comments to 247sports.com, Bjork also addressed what the school may do after the ruling is announced.
“From an official NCAA process, that’s the end of the road,” Bjork told 247sports.com. “But then you have to evaluate the options that are out there. Is there a legal route? Is there something else you can do? Those are all the things that have to be left on the table at this point and time. But until we have the final answer, you can’t really answer those questions until you know what it is.
“We’re weighing everything. Take the postseason bowl ban, for example, and this is purely a hypothetical. If you run the risk of taking a legal route and you get a stay for 2018 to play in a bowl game and then you get a 2019 bowl ban, that’s potentially disastrous. You can’t afford a prolonged process because you went through a legal route as it relates to the bowl ban specifically. Those are all the questions we’re asking right now and checking in on and following and monitoring. We’ll see once we get it what routes we might be able to take.”
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
