Wide receiver Josiah Freeman and Fresno State football have been thrust into the center of the college football world after a report from John Canzano, an independent college athletics journalist and a former Fresno Bee reporter, came out that claims the University of Mississippi had illegally contacted Freeman while he was not in the NCAA transfer portal.

Freeman was granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA on Jan. 4, announcing his return to the Bulldogs on social media, saying, “let’s run it back RedWave!!”

Fresno State and Freeman are said to have screenshots of texts between him and a University of Mississippi staff member, according to Canzano.

NCAA bylaw 13.1.1.4 prohibits universities from contacting student-athletes while enrolled at another university at the Division I level. If teams choose to contact athletes from Division II, Division III or other National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics institutions, then the institutions must comply with the rules of that division.

“An athletics staff member or other representative of the institution’s athletics interests shall not communicate or make contact with the student-athlete of another NCAA Division I institution, or any individual associated with the student-athlete (e.g., family member, scholastic or non-scholastic coach, advisor), directly or indirectly, without first obtaining authorization through the notification of transfer process,” the bylaw reads.

Neither Freeman nor Fresno State football has commented further on the matter. However, NCAA investigators have been in contact with Fresno State Athletics, according to Canzano.

These claims from Fresno State come on the heels of a press conference from Clemson football’s head coach, Dabo Swinney, who said that the University of Mississippi tampered with one of their players. The student-athlete, Luke Ferreli, was enrolled at Clemson before entering the portal, where he enrolled at the University of Mississippi.

“There’s tampering, and then there is blatant tampering,” Swinney said.

In the press conference, Swinney said there are three levels of tampering. He said what the University of Mississippi did to Ferreli was “tampering 301.”

The University of Mississippi currently has the No. 2-ranked transfer class for the 2026 season. They are coming off the program’s best season in school history, making their first College Football Playoff appearance and making it to the semifinals.