OSU expected to avoid harsh NCAA penalties
Ruling to come shortly, could clear way for Matta recruiting class
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Bob Baptist and Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State is expected to escape a postseason ban when the NCAA discloses penalties against the men’s basketball program in coming days.
The university "anticipates good news" from the NCAA after learning yesterday that a ruling is forthcoming in the infractions case against men’s basketball, said a source close to university officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
That means the Buckeyes can expect to hold on to recruits considered among the best in the nation — and to coach Thad Matta, who might be tempted to leave (to Indiana, perhaps) if OSU were barred from postseason play.
Contact with the NCAA gave Ohio State confidence that penalties would not include a ban on NCAA Tournament play. Ohio State is expected to be a high seed in the 2006 tournament, and the recruiting class that will enroll in the fall includes 7-foot center Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, who is touted as the most dominant player in decades. Joining Oden are three blue-chip guards — Mike Conley Jr., also of Lawrence North, Daequan Cook of Dayton Dunbar and Dave Lighty of Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph — and junior-college forward Othello Hunter of Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla.
Ohio State guaranteed those five players in writing that, if they desired, the school would release them from their letters of intent if Ohio State was banned from the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes already sat out postseason play in 2005 when the university imposed penalties for alleged infractions that took place under former coach Jim O’Brien. The penalties also included the loss of two scholarships for this season.
Matta doesn’t anticipate being banned from this year’s tournament, which begins next week.
"I haven’t allowed myself to think otherwise. I guess I’d have to cross that bridge when it came — and probably jump off that bridge if it was the case," he said yesterday.
Ohio State fired O’Brien on June 8, 2004, for giving $6,000 to the mother of recruit Aleksandar Radojevic in late 1998 or early 1999. The NCAA also investigated the housing arrangement that former player Boban Savovic had and benefits he received from Kathleen Salyers of Gahanna.
Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said through a spokesman yesterday that the university had yet to receive official word from the NCAA.
The Buckeyes face nine NCAA allegations, seven of which involve men’s basketball and one each involving women’s basketball and football. The university has disputed only one of the nine, that it failed to properly monitor the men’s basketball program.
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