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Southern Mississippi junior guard Rasham Suarez and senior forward Jeremiah Eason have been ruled ineligible. The university sent a statement on Thursday saying that Eason and Suarez are "no longer eligible to participate.'' The university didn't specify why Eason and Suarez are ineligible. Southern Miss athletic director Bill McGillis said in the statement he's "disappointed for these two young men, our new head coach and our basketball program.'' The NCAA has been investigating the academics of both players, multiple sources told ESPN. Suarez and Eason both came to Southern Miss from the College of Central Florida in the junior college ranks. The NCAA was in Hattiesburg earlier this week questioning both regarding the legitimacy of their academic work to qualify to play at Southern Mississippi. Suarez was averaging 7.4 points in 30.4 minutes per game, while Eason was averaging 2.9 points in nearly 25 minutes per contest this season. A source told ESPN that Suarez will likely turn professional and play in Puerto Rico, while there's still a chance that Eason could be reinstated at some point. Both players were recruited by current Tennessee coach Donnie Tyndall -- who is currently in his first season with the Volunteers. Tyndall spent two seasons at Southern Miss and took the Eagles to the NIT in 2013 and 2014. Southern Mississippi is also being investigated for improper financial aid to three players. Sources told ESPN that the NCAA has been looking into the situations involving leading scorer Matt Bingaya, Shadell Millinghaus and Davon Hayes while they were sitting out under Tyndall. Southern Miss is 6-12 this season and 1-6 in Conference USA play.
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