Tressel knew of gear scheme last April
By Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was informed that several Buckeyes players were selling memorabilia more than eight months before the school claims it was made aware of the scheme, a two-month Yahoo! Sports investigation has found.
Tressel received information that players were selling items to Edward Rife ? the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus ? as early as April 2010, according to a source. However, neither Ohio State nor the NCAA investigated the transactions or the players? relationship with Rife until December 2010, when the school claims it was informed of the situation by the local United States Attorney?s office.
Ohio State director of compliance Doug Archie declined immediate comment when reached Monday by Yahoo! Sports. Tressel and athletic director Gene Smith were unavailable for comment. The NCAA declined comment.
A federal probe into Rife revealed he was in possession of multiple pieces of Buckeyes football memorabilia that previously belonged to five players: quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, wideout DeVier Posey, defensive end Solomon Thomas and offensive lineman Mike Adams. Federal officers contacted the school Dec. 7 to determine if the goods were stolen or instead sold by the players for cash, as Rife claimed.
According to a source, a concerned party reached out to Tressel last April, alerting the coach that memorabilia transactions had taken place between Rife and a handful of Buckeyes players, including Pryor. The selling of items violates NCAA eligibility rules. The source said Tressel was troubled by the information, and the coach indicated that he would investigate the matter and take appropriate action.
Whether the coach initiated an investigation of the accusation is unclear, but all five players remained on the field in the coming months, playing out the 2010 regular season.
After Ohio State alerted the NCAA of the memorabilia sales in early December, the NCAA?s student-athlete reinstatement staff ruled the players were banned from the first five regular-season games of 2011. The players also had to repay the improper benefits gained ? $2,500 for Pryor, $1,505 for Thomas, $1,250 for Posey, $1,150 for Herron and $1,000 for Adams. Linebacker Jordan Whiting also had to pay $150 to a charity for receiving a discounted tattoo.
But in a controversial part of the decision ? which included lobbying by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, according to Smith ? the NCAA?s reinstatement staff ruled in late December that the five players were eligible for the 2011 Sugar Bowl game against Arkansas.
At a Dec. 23 press conference, Smith claimed the school first became aware of the memorabilia sales on Dec. 7. Smith said the athletic department was told the following day and immediately launched an investigation.
If Tressel failed to inform Smith or the Ohio State compliance department about the players? dealings with Rife, he could be charged with multiple NCAA violations including unethical conduct, failure to monitor and a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance. In general, a coach is required to act on, or pass along reasonable information about possible rule violations for further investigation.
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