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Quote:OSU Announces 1-Year Men's Basketball Postseason Ban
NCAA Investigation Continuing

UPDATED: 2:27 PM EST December 9, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State President Karen Holbrook and athletic director Andy Geiger announced Thursday that the university has imposed sanctions for the men's basketball program in the wake of an investigation that prompted the firing of coach Jim O'Brien.

The university announced the men's basketball team would not participate in post-season play at the end of the current regular season.

Holbrook said the university also took a significant step in firing O'Brien on June 8.

"We are not thrilled to be telling you about this today," Geiger said. "We felt it was very important (to impose sanctions) so that our basketball staff and basketball program can move through getting recruits."

Geiger also announced the university extended current men's basketball coach Thad Matta's contract for another season to show their "confidence and appreciation" with him. Matta's new deal expires following the 2011-12 season.

Geiger said that Matta and his staff had nothing to do with the self-imposed sanctions that were announced.

Holbrook said that it is likely the university would announce further self-imposed sanctions when an NCAA investigation is completed.

O'Brien's dismissal occurred when it was revealed the coach admitted giving $6,000 in 1999 to Aleksandar Radojevic, a recruit who never attended Ohio State because he was ruled ineligible after the NCAA found out he had been paid to play in Europe.

The payment came to light when Kathleen Salyers, a nanny and housekeeper, sued Kim Roslovic and her ex-husband, Dan, for more than $300,000 for failing to pay her for taking care of former basketball player Slobodan "Boban" Savovic, who first lived with the Roslovics and then with Salyers and her family.

Salyers claimed that she was asked by the Roslovics to take care of Savovic when the Roslovics realized that there might have been an NCAA violation. NCAA rules prohibit boosters from housing athletes.

In an April deposition, Salyers testified that she housed and fed Savovic for two years, spending thousands of dollars on phone bills, car insurance and spending money for Savovic, who was on the 1998-99 team that O'Brien led to the Final Four.

Last month, O'Brien sued the university, claiming that he was owed at least $3.4 million from Ohio State. The legal action reportedly hinges on two points of contractual language: the assertion that there has been no finding of a breach of NCAA rules by the coach, and that O'Brien was not fired for cause.

Geiger said that the university and the NCAA are continuing their investigations into the program during the period of 1998-2002, when the allegations reportedly took place.

It could be months before the investigations are complete, Geiger said. "We don't anticipate closure for some time."

Geiger said that the NCAA investigation is continuing by legal action that must take place.

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I told you Geiger was a stand up guy..... :angel:

MAC tOAMU Wrote:I told you Geiger was a stand up guy..... :angel:

:rofl:

Sure he is--as long as he can dump all the blame on someone besides himself. As AD, how could he know anything that goes on in the two major money making sports at his university?

:rofl:

Quote:The university announced the men's basketball team would not participate in post-season play at the end of the current regular season.

Well, we kinda did the same thing at Kent State. To restore discipline after the Cribbs probelm, our team decided to eliminate itself from any post season bowl prospects. The special teams went so far as to make this a cause.

To make this gesture a bit more meaningful they should have offerred to disqualified themselves from the next post season tournament they actually qualify for. For Kent, as an example, to
preclude themselves from any bowl games this season is a meaningless gesture. When was the last time Kent had any post season bowl prospects in football to concern themselves with.

It is kind of like when major league baseball suspends a starting pitcher for 4 games when they only pitch every 5th day. What is the point.

Maybe Ohio State will win enough games this season to qualify so their gesture would have some valididty, but if they don't qualify then
what does it cost them? Make it so the next time they actually do qualify then they will sit out.

falconflier Wrote:For Kent, as an example, to
preclude themselves from any bowl games this season is a meaningless gesture. When was the last time Kent had any post season bowl prospects in football to concern themselves with.

No need to look at the handle to see who this guy roots for.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I knew that irony wouldn't be lost on some here.

axeme Wrote:I knew that irony wouldn't be lost on some here.

Both of you can bite me.

:chair: :chair: :chair: :saber:

Quote:When was the last time Kent had any post season bowl prospects in football to concern themselves with

Off the top of my head, about as many years as BG basketball has been to the dance.

You got me on the BG basketball response and I did not intend to disparage Kent but only used them as an example of how self-imposed sanctions are only as valid as the situation determine.

As far as BG basketball and the dance goes it not as though BG has not had teams thru the years that have deserved to be in the dance. It is the ongoing problem mid-majors in general and the MAC in particular face in having only the tournament champion guraranteed a spot in the NCAA's. A team can win the conference title as BG has but lose in the MAC tournamnet and end up with a NIT invite only.

I respect Kent's success, especially the Elite 8 appearance, it's just that the MAC should have at least 2 and sometimes more than 2 teams in the NCAA's and be seeded higher than 9th or 10th every year.