As the 2016 NFL Draft unfolded, no story was bigger than the hacking of Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil’s social media accounts.

Something as quick as a video of him smoking a bong with a gas mask surfacing on his Instagram account took a potential No. 1 overall daft pick all the way down the board to the No. 13 with the Miami Dolphins. However, that clip was far from the final blow of the night, as the hacker continued his assault with what appeared to be a series of texts between him and a member of the coaching staff regarding improper benefits.

Now, Ole Miss officials believe the conversation to have actually taken place, and have pinpointed it to some time last year. The conversation allegedly shows Tunsil asking a member of the athletic department for money to help pay rent and his mother’s utility bill, per ESPN.com:

In the conversations, which supposedly occurred in February and April 2015, Tunsil asked Ole Miss assistant athletic director John Miller for money to pay rent and his mother’s $305 utility bill. Miller responds to Tunsil’s request by replying, “See Barney next week,” an apparent reference to Ole Miss assistant athletic director for high school and junior college relations Barney Farrar.

As for Tunsil, he admitted to taking money in college during his post-draft press conference in Chicago. He has since refused to answer any questions at two other scheduled press conferences.

This latest revelation is just one of many problems that appear to be on the horizon for the Ole Miss athletic department and football program. The Rebels were sent a notice of allegations by the NCAA back in January and head coach Hugh Freeze has been deposed in a civil case between Tunsil and his step-father after an alleged assault.

Little is publicly known as to what the NCAA allegations truly are, but given this latest revelation it isn’t hard to figure out that football is at least part of the equation and may be the main focus of the athletics department investigation.

As for the deposition of Freeze, his attorneys are fighting hard to keep the public and the press out of the proceedings and from knowing what would be said in the deposition at all. His attorneys have filed a motion to at least have the deposition sealed, per ESPN.com.

“As the plaintiff has acknowledged, the general public has great interest in information about Defendant, soon to be an NFL player. In addition, the general public has great interest in Freeze and the Ole Miss football program. At this time, the NCAA is considering allegations against the University and its football program, including allegations related to Defendant. The parties should use information disclosed in this litigation solely for purposes of discovering facts relevant to the claims and defenses in this litigation.”

Even more damning appears to be the fact that there was also illegal contact between Tunsil and an agent, Isaac Conner, last season, according to an ESPN’s Outside the Lines report.

Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze could be in some serious trouble.

With the university having to respond to the allegations brought by the NCAA by the end of May, it may not be too much longer before we really know what is at stake.

[ESPN]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!