Kermit Davis is out as Ole Miss men’s basketball coach In NIL-era first, NCAA gives Miami probation for violation Utah projected as No. 1 seed in women’s NCAA Tournament Michigan trails early, pulls away from Rutgers for 58-45 win Cooke, No. 1 South Carolina women beat Tennessee 73-60 Alabama backs star Miller, in lineup vs. South Carolina

OXFORD, Mississippi. Mississippi coach Kermit Davis’ term has come to an end, his team is on a four-game losing streak and is in last place in the Southeastern Conference standings.

Ole Miss Vice-Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter said on Friday that the school and Davis “by mutual agreement parted ways immediately.”

Davis has gone 74-79 in five Ole Miss seasons, going 10-18 and 2-13 in SEC games.

“We thank Coach Davis for his dedication to the Ole Miss basketball program and our student athletes,” Carter said in a statement. “No one wanted to bring the title home to Mississippi more than him, and we appreciate the passion he shared with our team every day for that goal.”

Assistant head coach Vin Case will take over as head coach until the end of the season.

Davis began his Ole Miss tenure by leading the Rebels to a 20–13 record and an NCAA Tournament spot in the 2018–19 season and earning the SEC Coach of the Year award. Ole Miss made it to NIT in 2021.

Prior to Ole Miss, Davis worked at Middle Tennessee State and is still his top coach to this day.

His Division I career record as a head coach is 477-316 and he has led Ole Miss, MTSU and Idaho to NCAA Tournament places.

“My family and I are very grateful to have been able to host the Ole Miss men’s basketball program for the past five years,” Davis said, calling Oxford “a special place to live and work.”

Carter said a national search had begun.

“As we have seen in the past, Ole Miss basketball has the ability to compete and win championships, and we are determined to find the right leader to help us reach our greatest potential,” he said. “Over the past 15 years, we have invested as much in sports as any school in the country.

“This commitment, the passion of Rebel Nation, and the opportunity to be part of this great university makes our position as head coach a job that will attract the best candidates.”

CORAL GABLES, Florida. Miami was sentenced to one year of probation on a Friday after school, and the NCAA said women’s basketball coaches inadvertently helped orchestrate inappropriate contact between a booster and two Hurricanes-signed players.

This is the first time the NCAA has announced a penalty related to investigating transactions involving names, images, and likenesses—the NIL, as they’re called.

The NCAA was investigating booster John Ruiz, who signed several Miami-based athletes to NIL deals. Among them are basketball players Hayley and Hannah Cavinder, who moved to Miami after meeting Ruiz, although the Cavinders told the NCAA that the meeting had nothing to do with their decision to play for the Hurricanes.

The NCAA and Miami worked on a “negotiation resolution” to end the saga, but the NCAA wanted the Hurricanes to agree to more sanctions than what was ultimately handed down. booster”. The NCAA said the violation was due to Miami coach Cathy Meyer helping arrange a meeting between Cavinders and Ruiz without knowing he was the sponsor.

“Boosters are interacting with prospects and student-athletes in a way that NCAA members have never seen or encountered,” the NCAA said in a statement. “Thus, combating unacceptable booster behavior is critical, and the disconnection penalty represents an effective punishment available to the (violations committee).”

Meyer will no longer have to miss games; she served a three-game suspension to start the season pending an NCAA ruling.

The NCAA never named Ruiz in its Friday ruling, but referred to an April 13 tweet posted by the booster that included a photo of him and two recruits. On this day, Ruiz posted a photo of himself with the Cavinder twins after dinner at his home.

“These girls decided where to go, no one else did it for them,” Ruiz tweeted Friday.

The Cavinders, who have a massive social media following and multiple NIL deals, signed the letter of intent about a week after dinner. They are not subject to any sanctions. Both are in their first season with the Hurricanes since moving from Fresno State.

“While the parties have argued that a dissociation penalty would be inappropriate due to inappropriate food intake and inappropriate contact, today’s new NIL-related environment represents a new day,” the NCAA said in a statement.

Meyer said Friday in a statement released by the university that she was “in good faith” running the programs and was a “collaborative partner with the NCAA.”

“Collegiate athletics is undergoing change and any unintentional mistake I made was prior to fully understanding the fences put in place and the clarifications issued by the NCAA in May,” Meyer said.

The NCAA said it opened an investigation in May and interviewed Ruiz in June. But the NCAA can’t order Miami to disassociate itself from Ruiz based on a meeting that took place before last year’s rule change.

“(The Violations Committee) will seriously consider dissociation penalties in future cases involving NIL-related behavior,” the NCAA said.

Miami has agreed to various other minor sanctions, such as a small fine—$5,000 plus 1% of the women’s basketball budget, which the school does not allocate as a private institution—and a small reduction in allowed recruiting.

“The sanctions we ultimately agreed to to end this are not (commensurate with) the violation or its intent,” Miami said in a statement. “Coach Meyer is an outstanding coach, role model, teacher…and we fully support her, her program, and our department’s ongoing efforts to ensure compliance.”

The Cavinders have been the stars of the NIL phenomenon since it became available to college athletes on July 1, 2021. Boost Mobile signed them up immediately, touting the move with a giant ad in New York City’s Times Square. Many other deals soon followed.

Meyer is Miami’s all-time leader in women’s basketball wins with 338, not counting the three games the Hurricanes have won without her this season — the NCAA says they can’t be on her record. She is a past Associated Press Coach of the Year and a former US Basketball Coach of the Year, and is a member of the Miami Sports Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor at Duke, her alma mater.

Utah would join South Carolina, Indiana and Stanford as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it started now.

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Board announced for the second and final time on Thursday the teams that must finish in the top 16 ahead of Sunday’s selection. South Carolina, Indiana and Stanford were also included in the leaderboard in the previous report.

“It was the easiest part of the day. I’m really looking forward to when these teams play towards the end of the season,” selection committee chairman Lisa Peterson said in a telephone interview. “Indiana and Iowa, Stanford and Utah are playing this weekend.”

None of Thursday night’s games counted, including No. 3 Stanford’s double overtime victory over No. 21 Colorado. This is the last weekend of the regular season for most major conferences.

The eighth-placed Utes on the AP Top 25 moved up one spot to replace UConn, who lost to St. John’s. Utah will face Stanford on Saturday to close out their regular season. The Huskies finished in second place, finishing seventh overall.

Peterson said the biggest debate was over who should be the fourth number one – Utah or LSU.

“That was probably the biggest talking point,” she said. “You have more information when you look at these teams. One thing that stood out was the number of top 25 and 50 wins when you compare LSU to Utah. It was a difficult choice, of course. One thing we couldn’t get past was the strength of the (LSU) schedule.”

The top 16 players will play the games of the first and second rounds, and for the first time the regional rounds will be held at two neutral venues instead of the traditional four. Seattle will host half of the Sweet 16, while Greenville, South Carolina will host the other eight teams.

South Carolina and Indiana were scheduled as top seeders in the Greenville region, with Stanford and Utah in Seattle. The undefeated Gamecocks took first place overall.

The Gamecocks were joined by No. 2 Virginia Tech, No. 3 Iowa, and No. 4 Michigan in their predicted group. Hoosiers will have #2 in Connecticut, #3 in Notre Dame and #4 in Arizona.

The other top teams in the Stanford region were No. 2 Maryland, No. 3 Duke, and No. 4 Villanova. Utah will be joined by LSU, Ohio and Texas.

Arizona was the only team not included in the original disclosure to make it into the second. The Wildcats have replaced North Carolina.

Teams outside of the top 16 included the Tar Heels, Tennessee, Colorado, Oklahoma, and UCLA.

The Big Ten had five teams in the top 16, while the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Pac-12 had three each. The Southeastern Conference and the Big East had two, while the Big 12 had one.

The Final Four will take place in Dallas on March 31, with the NCAA championship game taking place two days later. Dallas will also host the Division II and III championship games on April 1st.

Sunday of choice – 12 March.

The NCAA has been running seasonal screenings of women’s basketball since 2015 to give teams an early indication of where they might end up on the grid.

PISCATWAY, New Jersey. Doug McDaniel had 16 points and five steals as Michigan bounced back from an early 10-point deficit to beat Rutgers 58-45 Thursday night.

The victory takes the Wolverine to a three-way tie with Maryland and the No. 17 in Indiana for third in the Big Ten Conference with three games left in the regular season. The top four finishers advance to the conference quarterfinals.

Michigan didn’t have Jett Howard averaging just under 15 points per game, and the Wolverines only managed McDaniel…