Jim O’Brien won an appeal Thursday and can return to the college sidelines after he had been fired by Ohio State and essentially banned from coaching by the NCAA for paying a recruit.The NCAA’s ruling on March 10, 2006, all but prevented any colleges from hiring O’Brien. The governing body of college sports also said seven rules violations took place at Ohio State while he was coach.
A year after the initial ruling, the NCAA threw out three of those violations and part of a fourth because the association’s enforcement staff missed a deadline for filing the charges.
Any further restrictions on future employment were lifted by Thursday’s ruling by an NCAA appeals committee, leaving O’Brien free to return to coaching.
“I am pleased that my 3 1/2-year battle with the NCAA has finally come to an end and resulted in victory,” O’Brien said in a release issued through his lawyers. “I have felt all along that the penalty imposed upon me by the (NCAA’s) Committee on Infractions was both excessive and unjust. … If I choose to coach again, I can do so without restriction.”
O’Brien has dabbled in broadcasting since his dismissal.
He already has won a lawsuit against Ohio State for wrongfully firing him and was awarded $2.2 million plus interest. The university has appealed that decision to the Ohio Supreme Court, which has yet to decide if it will hear the case.
A message seeking comment was left with Ohio State on Thursday.
O’Brien was a well-respected member of the coaching fraternity until his sudden firing on June 8, 2004. Then-Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said he was dismissing O’Brien for giving a 7-foot-3 Serbian recruit, Aleksandar Radojevic, a $6,000 loan in 1999 for family expenses to help the family during a family illness.
“I am troubled that a rule was admittedly violated and it took us five years to find out about it,” Geiger said at the time.
O’Brien stressed he gave the player the money out of humanitarian concerns — Serbia was then involved in a war — and said the money did not influence Radojevic to later sign a letter of intent to play for the Buckeyes.
Before he enrolled in classes, the NCAA ruled Radojevic had been paid to play by a professional team in Europe and was ineligible to join the Ohio State team.
Thad Matta was later hired to coach Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to three consecutive 20-win seasons including a 35-4 record and an appearance in the national title game a year ago.
O’Brien also has faced allegations that another of his players, Boban Savovic, was housed, fed, clothed and supported by a Columbus family at the behest of team boosters.
The NCAA compelled Ohio State to vacate all records and wipe out any reference to making the Final Four in 1999, when Savovic was a member of the team. It also paid back about $800,000 in tournament money to the NCAA.
[via AP]
