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Bill Battle said UA hasn't received final report from NCAA

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. | University of Alabama Director of Athletics Bill Battle said the athletic department is still awaiting word from the NCAA for rules violations that resulted in the resignation of former football assistant coach Bo Davis.

Davis resigned last month after he was less than forthcoming when asked about an alleged impermissible contact with a prospective student-athlete.

Battle said the athletic department took proactive action when it found out, but that he doesn't know what the NCAA findings will be.

"I don’t know what…we haven’t got the final report from the NCAA," Battle said Wednesday afternoon at the SEC Spring Meetings. "I know that Bo spoke to the NCAA after we did and he resigned. We have determined there were violations and felt like it was in our best interest to separate.

"I know that Bo spoke to the NCAA in hopes that he could reduce any penalty that might come to him. We haven’t heard what might come to us. We’re still waiting for those answers.

"You never know. It’s one of our staff members so whether or not action is taken, all we can do is respond to what we find are things that happened. We responded as quickly as (we could). It will be up to the NCAA to decide what they think about our response."

When asked what the specific violations are, Battle declined to answer.

Alabama coach Nick Saban hired Karl Dunbar to replace Davis as the team's defensive line coach.

War of words

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh isn’t afraid of confrontation or, for that matter, to make himself the center of attention. He’s done so frequently on his Twitter account, most recently labeling Saban a “cheater.”

Harbaugh called Saban out Tuesday evening with a tweet that read, “‘Amazing’ to me- Alabama broke NCAA rules & now their (head coach) is lecturing us on the possibility of rules being broken at camps. Truly ‘amazing.'"

Saban, who frequently avoids becoming embroiled in a public back-and-forth, answered with a quote to espn.com that he doesn’t care what Harbaugh thinks.

Both comments stem from Saban’s remarks this week about satellite camps. Saban doesn’t like them and warned of the unintended consequences that could come from unregulated camps.

His athletic director, Bill Battle agreed with him.

“I think the issue, as Nick was trying to say, is that there are camps that are going to held outside the evaluation and outside the recruiting period and coaches are going to be confronted with (student-athletes) and working with them, and it wouldn’t make much sense as if you had it during the defined recruiting time period,” Battle said. “If you don’t, there needs to be enforcement if you’re going to do it. And it’s going to be very difficult if there’s going to be camps everywhere. I think we’d like to see something more manageable and more organized. And all of our coaches sort of felt that way.”

Kickoff set

Alabama’s much-anticipated matchup against Ole Miss, a team that has beaten Alabama the last two seasons, has been set for a 2:30 p.m. (CST) kickoff to be broadcast on CBS, the network announced Wednesday.

Alabama turned the ball over five times at home in a 43-37 September loss in 2015. The Crimson Tide lead the all-time series 47-11-2. This year’s game will be in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

Nominees

Former Crimson Tide players Bobby Humphrey, running back, and E.J. Junior, linebacker, were among 75 players and six coaches included on the Football Bowl Subdivision 2017 College Football Hall of Fame ballot, the National Football Foundation announced Wednesday.

Humphrey stared at running back during the 1980s, accounting for 4.958 all-purpose yards and 40 career touchdowns. He rushed for a then-school record 1,471 yards in 1986.

Junior was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 1980, earning All-American honor while also being named a finalist for the Lombardi Award. He totaled 39 career sacks.

Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.

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