9. More NCAA issues emerge for Donnie Tyndall
This could turn into somewhat of a non-story or could be the story of the year in 2015. There’s still much to be written. But what we learned late in 2014 is that the NCAA is taking a look at the Southern Mississippi basketball program, and the investigation relates to Donnie Tyndall’s tenure in Hattiesburg, and allegations that players received improper financial aid. This isn’t the first run-in with the NCAA for Tyndall, who also dealt with issues at his prior stop at Morehead State. Tyndall spoke to the NCAA in mid-November, but no action has been taken by Tennessee, USM or the NCAA up to date. Two staffers – assistant Adam Howard and special assistant to the head coach R.J. Rush – both resigned about a week after the NCAA spoke to Tyndall, but didn’t cite NCAA issues as the reason. The NCAA cloud has hung over what has been a fairly promising start to the Tyndall era on the court and will continue to do so until there’s a resolution, likely in 2015.
