Dan Mullen will have to guide the Bulldogs while on probation after the NCAA found the program guilty of recruiting violations. (Spruce DerdenÐUSA TODAY Sports)
Mississippi State’s football program was placed on probation until June 2015 and stripped of two scholarships per season by the NCAA for improper contact with a top recruit, who received impermissable benefits from a booster.
Former wide receivers coach Angelo Mirando, who resigned last August, failed to report a booster for providing a player cash and other benefits. The player — Memphis East cornerback Will Redmond — participated in the investigation but it’s not known if he confirmed testimony of his high school coach, who claimed he witnessed booster Robert Herring providing the items to Redmond.
The NCAA released a report on its investigation Friday.
“The booster befriended a top Mississippi State recruit and began arranging for him to use cars, gave him cash and provided other benefits,” per the report. “During the recruitment, the booster exchanged more than 100 phone calls with the recruit, assisted the recruit in securing a car to drive to a campus visit and provided cash to the recruit on multiple occasions. Additionally, the booster and his friend provided a car to the recruit for approximately $2,000 below the actual value of the car. Prior to taking an official visit to a different university, the booster told the recruit that if he did not take the visit, the recruit would be paid $6,000.”
Miranda was the key figure in the infractions and coach Dan Mullen wasn’t directly named.
Last August, Mississippi State confirmed an ongoing NCAA investigation into a possible “recruiting irregularity,” and said it would cooperate fully. A month earlier, the disassociated from an athletics booster because of what they called “impermissible contact” with a student-athlete.
Mirando quit in August amid an NCAA investigation related to his recruitment of at least one current Bulldog, ESPN reported. In a statement, the school said he left due to “unforeseen personal issues.”
The Bulldogs hired former Minnesota coach Tim Brewster to replace Mirando, but he left to become an assistant at Florida State.
