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NCAA Basketball Investigation/Lawsuit Thread (merged)

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From what I read about him and what people who knew him well said, I believe that OB really thought he was doing things (though clearly against the rules, and he knew it) to help certain kids who he felt truly needed it (which was less of violations most likely than what he probably knew other certain schools had and were doing in their programs).

Then when he got caught and now that his back is against the wall, instead of taking the blame which falls squarely on his shoulders, he is trying to distribue blame and save as much of his own skin as possible.

I just wish he would have taken the time to look at how this all would effect other innocent kids in the OSU Basketball Program (and the entire University as well) and do everything in his power to minimize them having to pay for his mistakes (since my original thought is that he really was out to help kids on his team, not hurt them for his own selfish reasons).

Just my own speculations.
 
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ESPN.COM

2/4/06

Ohio St.'s NCAA hearing ends; decision weeks away



COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State likely will be waiting three to five weeks to find out whether its athletic program will face more sanctions over alleged NCAA violations after a hearing Saturday to determine whether self-imposed punishments were adequate.

Ohio State banned the men's basketball team from postseason play last year and fired coach Jim O'Brien. The school conceded to violations including extra benefits for players, such as a booster giving housing, meals and cash to former basketball player Boban Savovic.

"Over the next number of weeks, the committee will make decisions on which of the allegations are infractions and decide on penalties," NCAA spokesman Kent Barrett said after the two-day hearing in Chicago.

Athletic director Gene Smith "had been instructed by the NCAA not to comment on any aspect of the hearing or the case," Ohio State spokesman Steve Snapp said.

The university has conceded to nine violations, seven in the men's basketball program and one each for the women's basketball and football teams. Ohio State argues that it shouldn't be held liable for some violations because O'Brien made it impossible for athletic administrators to know about them.

The university also said it would have 11 men's basketball scholarships this season instead of the maximum 13.

O'Brien was fired after retired athletic director Andy Geiger said the coach acknowledged giving a recruit $6,700.

O'Brien, who attended the NCAA hearing, is suing the university for $9.5 million saying he was wrongfully fired. O'Brien says the loan of his own money to Aleksandar Radojevic, a 7-foot-3 prospect from Serbia, was not a violation because he knew Radojevic already had forfeited his amateur status by playing professionally.
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DDN

2/5/06

Cusack ponders Biancardi's future

NCAA investigation ends, report expected in 3 to 5 weeks

By Marc Katz
Dayton Daily News
CHICAGO | Wright State Athletic Director Mike Cusack begins a mini-vacation today. He has a lot to think about.

"I want to listen to the questions and hear the answers," Cusack said prior to this weekend's NCAA Infractions Committee hearing concerning nine allegations of recruiting and other violations against Ohio State, former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien and his former assistant, Paul Biancardi.

Biancardi is Cusack's main interest. He currently is Wright State's coach, and if he is found guilty by the NCAA and sanctions are imposed, they become WSU's sanctions, too, unless the school fires its coach.
An NCAA report on this weekend's hearing is expected within three to five weeks.

Of course, Biancardi could be found innocent. He was hired at WSU a year before any of the alleged allegations at OSU were discovered.

This weekend's hearing lasted from noon to 7:30 p.m. Friday, and from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Biancardi's participation ended about 11:30 a.m.

Saturday, and he was out the door of the Marriott O'Hare 10 minutes later with Cusack to catch a plane home in time for Saturday night's game against Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Then, Cusack gets to take his vacation.

"I want to take time to digest what is said," said Cusack, who was an interested observer at the proceedings, along with WSU vice-president of student affairs Dan Abrahamowicz and Horizon League attorney Stephanie Jarvis.

When news of possible violations involving Biancardi first surfaced more than a year ago, Cusack spoke with the coach, who told him he did nothing wrong. Cusack and the rest of the WSU administration backed Biancardi and awaited the NCAA probe.

Complicating the matter was O'Brien's lawsuit against OSU for firing him on June 8, 2004, and subsequent postponements of the Infractions hearing from late summer to early December to this weekend.

O'Brien's court case began Dec. 12 and lasted a week. The verdict is expected within the next two weeks. What happens resulting from this weekend's hearing inside Ballroom 2 is of no consequence to that verdict.

Once the NCAA began deliberations Friday, it imposed a gag order on those involved. The silence was broken only by "I can't say anything" whispers from OSU and WSU, and by the O'Brien group's fusillade against his former school.

"If the university spent a nickel defending this case it should ask for its money back," O'Brien attorney Joe Murray huffed as he briskly walked out the door. "At the end of the day, the truth is, he (O'Brien) didn't commit a violation. He shouldn't have been fired and Ohio State should have worked with him to resolve this."

Added Brian Murphy, another O'Brien attorney, "We were trying to do what Ohio State wouldn't do, which is defend the program."

The hearing was held to determine the culpability of the parties listed in a Notice of Allegations — seven of the nine alleged major violations relating to basketball — initially presented to OSU on May 13.

Ohio State has been willing to admit to all the violations except the one concerning lack of institutional control. OSU has already fired O'Brien, accepted the resignation of then-athletics director Andy Geiger (who also attended the hearing), self-imposed a postseason ban on its team for last season and reduced scholarships by two this season.

Also, on Friday, the school announced the restructuring of its athletics staff, including the re-assignment of compliance officer Heather Lyke Catalano. Athletics Director Gene Smith said the move was unrelated to the hearing.

Ohio State also appears amenable to vacating two Big Ten championships along with a 1999 Final Four appearance and the resulting money it received (about $850,000) from reaching that plateau. The school does not want and does not expect any more sanctions for the current or future basketball teams.

One irony is that if O'Brien clears his name of any wrongdoing, he also would clear OSU of any wrongdoing in an allegation O'Brien gave an improper $6,000 loan to recruit Alex Radojevic — money allegedly passed on by Biancardi.

O'Brien claims Radojevic was already ineligible and had little hope of being reinstated. Yet OSU is willing to admit the violation occurred and is ready to accept punishment.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.
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Dispatch

2/10/06

Attorneys representing Ohio State at the NCAA infractions committee hearing in Chicago last weekend seemed inclined to accept the school’s anticipated retroactive penalties and move on without a fight, which appeared to miff Joe Murray, one of the lawyers representing former OSU basketball coach Jim O’Brien.

‘‘If Ohio State spent a nickel (on their legal representation), they should get their money back," Murray said.

Although OSU’s seven attorneys declined to comment, it was clear their motivation was different from Murray’s. O’Brien wants to prove he is not guilty of any infractions and clear his name; OSU officials seem confident that sanctions already selfimposed, along with additional retroactive penalties, will satisfy the NCAA and enable current and future men’s basketball teams to participate in postseason tournaments.

When the hearing was over, Murray told a reporter to ask OSU representatives about the statute of limitations. If O’Brien gave the family of recruit Aleksandar Radojevic $6,000 in 1998, as charged, the statute of limitations would have run out by the time it was discovered. But Murray implied that Ohio State never raised the issue.
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if i saw OB sitting on the sidewalk downtown peddling for change he would seem less desperate for money.

osu's attorneys are doing what is best for the university. osu is taking its medicine and moving on and closing the door on the entire thing.

the fact that OB's attorneys are pissed that osu didn't fight the ncaa which would in turn aid their client is laughable. when the ncaa rules that osu would have been given a postseason ban had they not self imposed sanctions and ob's case goes in the hopper, perhaps then he'll slink away into the hole he dug himself.
 
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I really have lost all respect for OBrien but I have a question for some of the lawyers on BP.

If OBrien was clearly hiding this payment, would the statute of limitations apply? Are their grounds under which it he could have been saved by the statute of limitations, no matter what came out later, if he actively took steps during that time to conceal the truth?

It just seems really unjust to me that someone can break NCAA rules (remember this is not a crime, it is an infraction) and then constantly cover up one's tracks until it's too late to be prosecuted.
 
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http://www.nbc4i.com/news/7076318/detail.html

O'Brien Wins Civil Suit Against Ohio State

POSTED: 8:36 am EST February 15, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former Ohio State men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien won a civil suit against the university on Wednesday.According to Franklin County Court of Claims Joseph T. Clark's office, the amount awarded to O'Brien will be determined after the damages phase of the trial.O'Brien sued Ohio State, claiming it owed him at least $3.5 million in guaranteed salary and benefits for his 2004 dismissal. With damages, the award could be worth millions more.O'Brien, head coach of the Buckeyes for seven years, was fired June 8, 2004. Then-Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said O'Brien was fired after the coach acknowledged to him he had given $6,700 in 1999 to 7-foot-3 Yugoslavian center Aleksandar Radojevic.Watch NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for additional information.
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Steve19 said:
I really have lost all respect for OBrien but I have a question for some of the lawyers on BP.

If OBrien was clearly hiding this payment, would the statute of limitations apply? Are their grounds under which it he could have been saved by the statute of limitations, no matter what came out later, if he actively took steps during that time to conceal the truth?

It just seems really unjust to me that someone can break NCAA rules (remember this is not a crime, it is an infraction) and then constantly cover up one's tracks until it's too late to be prosecuted.
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I am a lawyer, but I don't pretend to understand the ins and outs of the NCAA bylaws. If there is indeed a statute of limitations, then it depends. There are some that do not begin to run until a violation/right to sue/crime could have been discovered. There are others that run immediately after the wrong was committed. When the time runs out, that's it, it's over. But it all depends on when the time actually began to run.

As far as O'Brien's contract situation, that is a little more complicated because it would be determined by the language of the contract itself - and even more complicated if the contract expressly incorporates the NCAA bylaws. But again, I don't pretend to know or understand either.
 
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