Florida coach Dan Mullen and athletics director Scott Stricklin are now defendants along with five others in a suit filed against them today stemming from the NCAA's investigation into major rules violations at Ole Miss, according to Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman.

Rebel Rags, an Ole Miss clothing and gear store, had already filed suit against Mississippi State players Leo Lewis and Kobe Jones for defamation based on their conversations with NCAA investigators. Now they've added Mullen and Stricklin to a new suit based on similar grounds.

"We have learned that Mr. Stricklin has been named, along with a number of others, as a party to a lawsuit filed by an Oxford, Mississippi business that appears to have been identified by the NCAA in connection with findings of major rules violations by the University of Mississippi football program," said Stricklin's attorney Charlie Winfield in a statement provided to GatorBait.net. "Simply put, the claims against Mr. Stricklin are wholly devoid of merit, and there is simply no good faith basis in either law or fact for Mr. Stricklin to have been made a party to such a case. We intend to vigorously oppose these claims."

The conversations between the Ole Miss players and NCAA investigators led to allegations in the NCAA's ruling on the case that Rebel Rags was involved in providing illegal benefits to the players during the recruiting process in the form of $2,800 of free merchandise.

The subsequent fallout from those allegations were that the NCAA forced Ole Miss to disassociate with Terry Warren, the owner of the store, as a result of the alleged illegal benefits provided. That was an obvious blow to Warren's business, providing grounds for a suit on the basis that it has sustained damages from "false statements made to the NCAA."

Now Mullen and Stricklin are wrapped up in a suit with Rebel Rags, as well. However, it is unclear how Mullen or Stricklin might have been involved.

In court filings on behalf of former Ole Miss assistant Chris Kiffin obtained by SBNation, an Ole Miss player, Armani Linton, provided a statement that he had spoken to Lewis, who told Linton that he had spoken to Mullen about the NCAA investigation and the coach wanted to know what happened during his recruitment so that he could "protect" Lewis from any potential fallout.

In any case, with a suit now filed against them, Mullen and Stricklin will have a bit of a headache to deal with. Should things unfold in a court battle, they would likely be deposed and have to testify on the record.

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