Sources: Southern Miss men's basketball facing allegations of major violations, including academic fraud

Southern Mississippi officials and former coaches had a 12-hour hearing before the NCAA Committee On Infractions last week to answer a host of allegations of wrongdoing within the men’s basketball program, multiple sources told Yahoo Sports.

The hearing, which took place Jan. 21, centered on seven allegations of major violations by the Golden Eagles during the tenure of head coach Donnie Tyndall. A decision on additional sanctions levied against Southern Miss could be reached by April 1, according to sources. The school already has self-imposed postseason bans for last season and this season in an attempt to mitigate further penalties.

Among the allegations against the program are academic fraud and arranging impermissible financial aid for ineligible players. Tyndall, who left Southern Miss in 2014 to become the head coach at Tennessee but  lasted only one year before the nature of these allegations became public, has been charged with lack of coach control and academic fraud. Former assistant Adam Howard also is facing major allegations.

Both former coaches attended the hearing, in addition to Southern Miss president Rodney Bennett and athletic director Bill McGillis, sources said. Tyndall argued strenuously that he was unaware of much of the alleged wrongdoing that had been attributed to Howard, according to sources, especially the charges of academic fraud.

Tyndall, who was fired at Tennessee last spring, is currently serving as a volunteeer assistant athletic director at NAIA Tennessee Wesleyan. His record at Southern Miss was 56-17. Prior to that he was the coach at Morehead State, and the Eagles also landed on NCAA probation for violations during Tyndall’s tenure.

Voluntarily forfeiting postseason play was not a huge sacrifice for the Golden Eagles, last year or this year. In 2014-15, Southern Miss was 9-20. This season it is 6-12 after defeating UTEP in Hattiesburg on Thursday night.