NCAA Finds No Further Violations at Ohio State

The NCAA has notified Ohio State University that it will not face charges of failing to appropriately monitor its football team as part of a memorabilia-sales scandal that brought down former Coach Jim Tressel.

The NCAA has not uncovered any new, unreported violations during its investigation and agrees with Ohio State that Tressel was the only university official aware of violations by his players and that he failed to report them.

More on this later, but I can't stress how important this news is. While not removing the possibility that Ohio State will receive further penalties from the NCAA, it does lessen the odds and remains a very good omen.

10 months ago Tyler T. 13 comments 0 recs |

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This news

is tits. That is all.

by Onestatewest on Jul 22, 2011 5:45 PM EDT reply actions

It really is great news. A shame it had to break on a Friday.

by Tyler T. on Jul 22, 2011 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

ESPN is not going like this, not one little bit.

by talonk on Jul 22, 2011 5:47 PM EDT reply actions

George Dohrmann is the real loser here.

by Tyler T. on Jul 22, 2011 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions

That this news is really good is obvious, but I feel that I should write something up so it receives advertising from SB Nation. After months of bad news being plastered on the home page, I think they owe it to us.

Before the write-up comes tonight or tomorrow, here’s the official case summary for anyone interested. Haven’t read it yet, but there should be some good tidbits.

by Tyler T. on Jul 22, 2011 5:56 PM EDT reply actions

Today, Ohio State had a Board of Trustees meeting, and the media were invited. Doug Lesmerises of the Plain Dealer does not have his story finished yet, but he’s been tweeting some things said, including the contents of Tressel’s interview with the NCAA in February:

- Trustees vociferously denied reports that other members of the institution knew about the violations.

- Tressel threatened to send one suspended player home from Sugar Bowl, because he heard the player was leaving for the NFL.

- Tressel had a "watch list’ of people that Ohio State players could not give tickets, but Ohio State made him destroy it to prevent the public from obtaining it.

- Tressel requested that Ohio State compliance have an office in the WHAC, but Ohio State denied the request.

- Tressel protected Chris Cicero “at every turn” in the interview.

- Tressel mentioned “potential inducements” offered to Terrelle Pryor by other schools during his recruitment. He did not mention the schools because he didn’t want the info to be public, but parts of that answer are redacted, so he may have informed the NCAA anyway. We could see NCAA investigations into other schools off this info.

by Tyler T. on Jul 22, 2011 6:08 PM EDT reply actions

- Tressel mentioned "potential inducements" offered to Terrelle Pryor by other schools during his recruitment. He did not mention the schools because he didn’t want the info to be public, but parts of that answer are redacted, so he may have informed the NCAA anyway. We could see NCAA investigations into other schools off this info.

Hmmm wonder if Michigan, Oregon, and Penn St (?) will start to sweat that out.

by talonk on Jul 22, 2011 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions

This news most likely absolves OSU of any bowl ban as FTM or LOIC were not levied.

I suspect that OSU may end up with a few scholarship hits though. My reasoning is that the original 5 got their suspensions (and Pryor obviously is gone), but the other 2 did not get anything (or did the one player get the single game suspension?) If only one player, or two, I suspect they will add 2 scholarship reductions per player, most likely spread out over consecutive years. This way it will look like the NCAA is adding to OSU’s self imposed penalties, but it won’t end up being too severe.

by talonk on Jul 22, 2011 7:25 PM EDT reply actions

The sixth player (Jordan Whiting) received a single game suspension and the seventh player is still unnamed, although rumors have Dorian Bell as that player. Bell was suspended for the entire 2011 season (his third suspension at OSU) earlier this offseason. In Ohio State’s response to the NCAA, they mentioned that the seventh player was suspended and they were requesting his reinstatement. It’s possible that the seventh player is someone else and Bell’s suspension is coincidental, but it’s probably not.

Kyle agrees with you on the scholarship penalties, but I’m not so sure. Gene Smith worked closely with the NCAA to mold the self-applied penalties into exactly what the NCAA wants, and scholarship penalties without FtM or LoIC are always tough to predict. At most, I think a handful of scholarships over two years will be levied— certainly nothing like USC or Alabama.

by Tyler T. on Jul 22, 2011 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions

I haven't looked into closely, but...

The NCAA seems liker it tries to use scholarship limits to sanction the program, not individuals.

In this case, they are not only finding no reason to sanction the program, they are finding reasons not to.

I think Kyle may be giving more cadence to the press than the facts and COI history (can’t fault anyone for that).

by ProveIt on Jul 24, 2011 6:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Great news! It also gives a ton of insight into Coach Tressel’s thought process. It is nice to actually hear his words instead of some tabloid journalist putting words in his mouth.

by biggy84 on Jul 22, 2011 9:18 PM EDT reply actions