In trying to make the case that he did not violate any local laws, a Mississippi businessman by the name of Scott Walker may have inadvertently committed some major NCAA violations.

According to a report, Walker said that the people who stayed at his guest house this weekend were not short-term renters because they were college football athletes who “were definitely not paying.” Even if that was the case and thus let Walker off the hook in a legal sense, it would still be an NCAA violation due to impermissible benefits, which include free or reduced rent. While there wasn’t any information on the players who stayed in the guest house or where they went to school, Walker himself is an Ole Miss graduate.

This isn’t the first time Walker has been in trouble with the law. After serving 13 months in prison for pleading guilty to public corruption charges, he was also a former aide to Senators Trent Lott and Roger Wicker and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Ocean Springs, where he currently resides.

[Clarion Ledger/Gulf Live/Photo: Gulf Live]

About Colby Lanham

Colby Lanham is a graduate of Clemson University who, in addition to writing for The Comeback, has written for SI's Campus Rush, Bleacher Report, and Clemson Athletics. He is an alumni of the 2015 Sports Journalism Institute, where he also worked as an editorial intern for MLB.com. He has interests in football, basketball, and various forms of pop culture.