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OSU The Lantern...
NCAA hits Ohio State with 1-year bowl ban, loss of scholarships
By Pat Brennan and Michael Periatt
The NCAA Committee on Infractions has handed the Ohio State football program a one-year postseason ban and slashed a total of nine scholarships over three years due to
multiple violations dating back to December 2010.
The postseason ban is effective following the 2012 regular season. As a result of the ban, OSU willl not be eligible to play in the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game.
OSU will still participate as scheduled in the Gator Bowl against the University of Florida Jan. 2, 2012, in Jacksonville, Fla.
OSU had previously self-imposed a reduction of five scholarships over three years, but the NCAA cut an additional four scholarships over the same time frame.
Additionally, the Buckeye football program will face three years of probation, one more than the school had self-imposed.
Former OSU head coach Jim Tressel was given a five-year show-cause penalty, meaning any school that hires him in the next five years could face NCAA sanctions.
In December 2010, five OSU football players — Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Dan Herron and Solomon Thomas — were suspended for the first five games of the 2011
season after selling Buckeye football memorabilia in exchange for improper benefits in the form of tattoos. Linebacker Jordan Whiting also received a one-game ban.
After initially agreeing to a suspension for the now-concluded 2011 regular season, Pryor departed the university on June 7 to pursue a professional football career. His departure
came just days after Tressel was forced to resign from his position after it was discovered that he was aware of the violations and failed to report them.
Pryor was then selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the NFL’s Aug. 22 supplemental draft.
The university announced July 8 that it would vacate the 2010 season in which the team compiled a 12-1 overall record. On Aug. 15, it donated its $388,811 share of winnings from the
team’s Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas to charity.
Tuesday’s announcement caps a year-long rife with NCAA infractions for OSU football.
OSU met with the NCAA Committee on Infractions in Indianapolis on Aug. 12. After the meeting, OSU athletic director Gene Smith said he expected a final ruling to be handed
down eight-to-12 weeks after the meeting, which put the expected release date between the Buckeyes’ trip to Nebraska on Oct. 8 and OSU’s home matchup against Indiana on Nov. 5.
But the ruling didn’t come and the 2011 season still held more bad news for the Buckeyes.
On Sept. 1, the athletic department announced the suspensions of junior running back Jordan Hall, sophomore defensive back Corey Brown and junior defensive back Travis Howard,
who each missed two games for taking envelopes containing $200 from a university booster at a Feb. 19 charity event in Cleveland.
On Oct. 3, 2011, Smith announced that football players Herron, Posey and Marcus Hall would be suspended. The three players were overpaid by former OSU booster Robert
DiGeronimo for work they did not do while employed by him this past summer.
Luke Fickell replaced Tressel as OSU’s head coach for the 2011 season. He led the team to a 6-6 regular season record which included the Buckeyes’ first loss to Michigan since 2003.
Former Florida coach and ESPN analyst Urban Meyer was hired at the conclusion of OSU’s 2011 campaign, though Fickell will remain on as head coach for the Gator Bowl.
Read this and other articles at The Lantern
http://www.thelantern.com/sports/ncaa-hits-ohio-state-with-1-year-bowl-ban-loss-of-scholarships-1.2735926
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