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NCAA Basketball Investigation/Lawsuit Thread (merged)

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I think that tOSU's mistake was the wording in O'Brien's contract.

Any NCAA violation should have been grounds for dismissal, but it wasn't written that way. It had something like 'major violation" in it, which allows for some interpretation.
 
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Seems to me we have a line of thought developing here that says we have one of two bags of lemons -

A -- The NCAA gives zero weight to the Civil proceeding that just awarded O'Brien a win and potentially millions of dollars. Thus, their assessment of infractions / punishments goes back to the proactive stance taken by tOSU.
Lemonade from the lemons? NCAA hands down a decision that says tOSU has done enough, take down your affected banners, possible schollie restrictions, consider the case done.
B -- NCAA decision making is impacted by the O'Brien case. They say all tOSU has done to this point is absolutely enough or even more than enough.

Its tempting to think that either bag of lemons will make lemonade. Of the two though doesn't option A seem more likely? After all, the firing for cause issue is different and distinct from the issue of what tOSU knew of possible NCAA infractions under O'Brien's stewardship of the Basketball program. It is also different from what they did to address the issue - and redress its impact.
 
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You can...as long as you don't specifically say you won't in the guy's contract. That's the issue. What was the language in the contract and was OB wrongfully terminated occording to those terms? (P.S., it wasn't money to one of his players...it was a former recruit deemed ineligible to play NCAA b-ball, but I know what you meant)
 
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Ex-Ohio State Coach Wins Lawsuit 1 hour, 48 minutes ago


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Former Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien won his lawsuit Wednesday against the university, which he said improperly fired him for giving a loan of his own money to a recruit.
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Ohio Court of Claims Judge Joseph T. Clark ruled that O'Brien broke his contract by giving the $6,000 loan, but the error was not serious enough to warrant firing. Damages will be determined after another hearing.
"Because plaintiff's failure of performance was not material, defendant did not have cause for termination," Clark's ruling said.
O'Brien, 55, sued for $3.5 million in lost wages and benefits from his firing in June 2004. With interest and other damages, he could receive nearly $9.5 million.
The seven-year coach of the Buckeyes, who led them to the Final Four in 1999, testified he gave the money that he had accumulated in his office desk drawer to Aleksandar Radojevic, a 7-foot-3 prospect from Serbia, to help out his family. But O'Brien argued he knew Radojevic already had lost his amateur status by playing professionally.
Radojevic never played for the Buckeyes because the NCAA declared him ineligible for accepting about $9,000 to play for a team in his native country.
Andy Geiger, the former Ohio State athletic director who fired O'Brien, testified that the basketball coach acknowledged he violated NCAA rules with the loan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060215/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_ohio_st_coach_lawsuit;_ylt=AoeGAuyhEQ6qSCSYvxEnQ6Cs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cm82NXAwBHNlYwM3NTU-
 
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while i'm not sure, i think the issue lies here.

his contract states that he can only be fired for an ncaa violation. he was canned based on the payment to rad. however, at the time of his termination, obrien had not been found to have committed any violations until the entire savovich ordeal came about. i believe that if osu had not fired obrien until the ncaa levied its failure to monitor ruling, then ob would have no grounds. however, they didn't.

now assuming the above is correct, which is possible, but not likely, based on his contract, obrien should be entitled to lost wages from the time of his termination until the time of the ncaa ruling.
 
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Could someone, who understands the ins and outs of NCAA investigations, tell us what this means for the team?

Is the NCAA likely to be lenient, as Ohio State will pay through the nose for doing what's right?

Or is it likely to try to make the point that a major violation took place by punishing Ohio State?



By the way, knowing what I know today, if I were President of Ohio State, would I pay $10 million to see O'Brien never grace the doorstep of the VCA again? Yes, yes, yes!
 
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