Bong pic of Ole Miss star shows up on Tenn. message boards

With No. 3 Ole Miss traveling to Knoxville to play Tennessee on Saturday, Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze seemed to downplay a photo of Rebels standout sophomore defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche smoking marijuana from a bong.

The photo surfaced on University of Tennessee football message boards and went viral Monday.

“I’m very aware of the picture and also when it was taken and where it was taken,” Freeze said. “We test our entire team on our drug-testing policy at the beginning of the season and then we have our follow-up tests throughout the course of the year. I’m super confident we handled each one the same and we enforce our policy very consistently.”

Nkemdiche, the former No. 1 recruit in the nation, did not comment on the authenticity or origin of the photo. He was suspended for part of the Music City Bowl in December 2013 along with his brother, Denzel, and Cody Prewitt.

Freeze said he is “super confident” the situation has been addressed correctly.