HOOVER, Ala. -- Ole Miss redshirt junior linebacker Denzel Nkemdiche has returned to the Rebels' football team following his spring suspension, coach Hugh Freeze said on the final day of SEC media days Thursday.
Freeze said that Nkemdiche, who has 117 career tackles in two seasons, will be allowed to fully go through fall practice, but is still suspended for the season opener against Boise State in this year's Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta.
"He's back with us now," said Freeze, who is entering his third season as Ole Miss' coach. Freeze suspended Nkemdiche in February after he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.
Nkemdiche, who was a second-team All-SEC member as a freshman, has had an eventful year away from the football field. He and his brother Robert, who was the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2013 class by ESPN's RecruitingNation, were sued for $2 million after allegedly beating a man at a fraternity party last year. Neither player was arrested, and they later filed a counter-claim in the lawsuit.
Nkemdiche was also caught on video during spring break hurling expletives at a group of people on the beach.
"He's doing everything right ... since the issue that we had," Freeze said of Nkemdiche. "The plan I put in place, he's done everything I've asked him to do. It includes a one-game suspension, and hopefully that's the extent of it and he's back with us ready to go."
Ole Miss, which has won back-to-back bowl games under Freeze, was picked to finish fourth in the SEC Western Division by the media at SEC media days. Freeze has gone 15-11 in two seasons as the Rebels' head coach.