COMMENTARY
Hairston turns down OSU, but it’s not O’Brien’s fault
Thursday, May 13, 2004
ROB OLLER
Jim O’Brien grew up in the psychedelic ’60s, when a common catchphrase among teenagers was "Never trust anyone over 30."
The Buckeyes, on paper, were thought to top the list of contenders. Hairston, a 6-foot-5 McDonald’s All-American from Detroit, had narrowed his list to OSU, Kansas, Oregon, Oklahoma, UCLA and Michigan. But Ohio State came out ahead on Hairston’s points-based rating system, which considered such criteria as quality of coaching, proximity to home and opportunity to start immediately.
Ohio State has one of the game’s most honest coaches and best tacticians in O’Brien, Columbus is a 3½-hour drive from Detroit, and Hairston likely would have pushed J.J. Sullinger for a starting spot on the wing. Hairston also rated the likelihood of winning a national title.
Oregon has a relatively unknown coach in Ernie Kent, is a three-day drive from Detroit
Nearly four decades later, the 54-yearold Ohio State men’s basketball coach is on the opposite side of the timeline. Things have flip-flopped. It’s a new vantage point, and it screams, "Never rely on anyone still in high school."
At least not until they sign on the dotted line.
Obie got burned by teen spirit yesterday when top-10 recruit Malik Hairston chose Oregon over Ohio State and five other schools. and has about as much chance of winning a national championship as does MIT.
But . . . Hairston is a teenager, and teens — and their parents — are easily influenced and impressed.
"I couldn’t base my decision on (a rating system). The numbers didn’t mean much to me," Hairston said yesterday.
What did matter?
Hairston flew by private jet to Oregon for his official visit. Maybe he bumped into Nike founder Phil Knight while visiting the campus in Eugene. Maybe Hairston based his decision on future financial considerations.
Or maybe it was watching an NBA playoff game up close and personal that sealed the deal. Hairston was spotted watching a Detroit-New Jersey playoff game from the private box of Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, who wears Nike gear.
That’s the kind of quasi-ethical stuff that drives an oldschool coach like O’Brien nuts, which is why he has been loathe to play the recruiting game that centers on favors and perks. Come to school. Get an education. Play ball.
The alternative is repulsive to men of integrity — with good reason. When Missouri bounced OSU from the 2002 NCAA Tournament, critics, including this one, questioned how the Tigers could recruit blue-chip talent but O’Brien couldn’t, or wouldn’t.
Fast forward to this week, when the NCAA determined that Missouri violated multiple rules between 1999 and 2003. The infractions included the alleged payment of players, impermissible contact with recruits and free meals to AAU coaches.
Give me character over shady characters every time.
That’s not to suggest Oregon broke rules to bag Hairston. The Ducks had two perimeter players drafted in the last several years and likely will add a third when Luke Jackson goes in June. That’s pretty tasty bait with which to hook a recruit. The Ducks also play a more uptempo brand of basketball than the Buckeyes, and Hairston likes to run. Oregon also sold the kid on becoming the most highprofile recruit in school history.
Still, the Ducks didn’t enter the picture until April. Ohio State had invested two years in the kid. Losing Hairston to a school that entered a 400-meter race with 20 meters remaining has to be a bitter disappointment for OSU coaches. For the past year, they focused their recruiting efforts at the small forward position exclusively on bringing in the Detroit phenom, who would have been the highest-rated OSU recruit since Jim Jackson in 1989.
And for what? In the end, the 17-year-old turned out to be a tease.
For O’Brien, missing out on Hairston has to reinforce the damned-if-you-do, damned-ifyou-don’t nature of recruiting. Go after a big name but fail to land him and you’re labeled a coach who can’t recruit. Choose to refrain from playing the schmooze game and they say you won’t recruit.
It’s enough to make a coach go gray. As anyone with teens will tell you.
Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch