New Ole Miss head coach Adrian Wiggins has been removed from his position effective immediately.
Wiggins has also been placed on administrative leave for possible recruiting violations; two of his staff members have already been fired -- assistant coach Kenya Landers and her husband, Michael Landers who was the director of basketball operations.
This is definitely a setback for the Ole Miss program: Wiggins was hired in March after having a very successful track record at Fresno State which included 5 straight NCAA tournament appearances. From the release:
"This is a sad day for the University of Mississippi, our profession and most importantly our student-athletes," said Ross Bjork, Ole Miss Director of Athletics. "We are committed to the values of professional integrity and academic honesty found in the University Creed and the vision, purpose and core values we have established since I arrived at Ole Miss. We expect our staff and our student-athletes to promote and uphold our values, and I am extremely disappointed these events have occurred.
"We learned of possible violations in September and immediately began a vigorous investigation. As we discovered troubling facts, we informed the Southeastern Conference and NCAA and began taking steps to remedy the problems. Although there is no current evidence that Coach Wiggins was complicit in or had direct knowledge of this misconduct, as head coach, he is accountable for the actions of those who report to him."
Ole Miss will being an immediate search for an interim head coach and has asked their team, "...to move forward academically, athletically and socially."