Back so soon? Reports indicate NCAA investigators back in Columbus; hearing could be pushed back from August.

Submitted by clarkiefromcanada on

Jack Carey and Thomas O'Toole at USA today are reporting that investigators were back in Columbus today; cursing their fate at having to return to the ugliest city in America.

Apparently:

The investigators, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the case, are in Columbus after news media reports in recent days outlined the possible accrual of impermissible benefits by athletes dating back almost to the beginning of ex-football coach Jim Tressel's 10-year tenure.

This is not good news for the Buckeyes. Great!

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/2011-06-01-ncaa-ohiostate_N.htm

Erik_in_Dayton

June 1st, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^

OSU self-reported both the original tattoo/memorabilia infractions of the five players and then the fact that Tressel knew about those infractions. They did not self-report the allegations in the SI article or anything to do with Pryor's cars, etc. I think you're much less likely to get hit with a lack of institutional control charge when you self-report. That charge accordingly seems more likely now.

andrewG

June 2nd, 2011 at 9:21 AM ^

they only reported half of the truth because that's all the knew. they covered their ears and yelled LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU while people were telling them the other half so they could claim ignorance. so technically, the self-reporting was not lies. functionally, however...

Zone Left

June 1st, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^

This was expected. The August hearing was going to focus almost exclusively on Tressel. With his departure and the other metric ton of crap heaped on OSU football, it's a no brainer.

marc_from_novi

June 1st, 2011 at 10:31 PM ^

I wonder if a longer timeline could strangely benefit OSU by delaying a decision on a post-season ban.  Would be a bummer if they were able to qualify for the B1G Championship game this year.

Frank Drebin

June 2nd, 2011 at 9:29 AM ^

I don't see how a loss to michigan could keep them out either way, unless it was a tiebreaker. They aren't in the same division, so OSU could lose to UM and still win the Leaders by winning all divisional games. But I do agree that I don't think that they will be in the championship game.

The Barwis Effect

June 1st, 2011 at 11:34 PM ^

A longer timeline also lessens the chances of them being able to pull a big name coach.  No big-timer, at least in my opinion, is going to want to come in and have to take on the full brunt of the sanctions.  The best thing for them in terms of getting a top coach is for the penalties/bans start immediately under Fickell so the new guy doesn't have to preside over the entire sentence.

AMazinBlue

June 1st, 2011 at 10:32 PM ^

OSU is like an onion, it has layers, or was that ogres?

Ahh, either way, this onion's layers are getting peeled, grilled and carmalized right before our very eyes.

My grocery store just ran out of popcorn!

True Blue in CO

June 1st, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^

this afternoon that 15+ players were being questioned by the NCAA investigators. Then the "Mr. Ellis" from the SI article is being interviewed tomorrow. If players stories do not line up with the accounts of Mr. Ellis, then the players will be in even more trouble. If OSU does not self impose some more suspensions, a bowl ban, and other penalties before the NCAA hearing then look out. I see the NCAA making a big example out of them. I see the words "Lack of Institutional Control" all over this situation regardless of the next hearing date.

turtleboy

June 1st, 2011 at 10:43 PM ^

date back to the beginning of Jim Tressel's 10-year-tenure, then the sanctions will too. Should've known once Clarrett was kicked off the team the rings would be gone too.

dnak438

June 1st, 2011 at 11:29 PM ^

See here on the Wolverine Blog. The upshot: there is a 4 year statute of limitations, excepting:

  1. The eligibility of current student athletes
  2. "Allegations in a case in which information is developed to indicate a pattern of willful violations on the part of the institution or individual involved, which began before but continued into the four-year period"
  3. "Allegations that indicate a blatant disregard for the Association’s fundamental recruiting, extra-benefit, academic or ethical-conduct regulations or that involve an effort to conceal the occurrence of the violation. In such cases, the enforcement staff shall have a one-year period after the date information concerning the matter becomes available to the NCAA to investigate and submit to the institution a notice of allegations concerning the matter."

bad news for the Buckeyes.

Hardware Sushi

June 1st, 2011 at 11:32 PM ^

Yes, but (and I'm not going to look the exact wording up), the statute of limitations doesn't pertain to violations that are shown to be a pattern of continued behavior, which makes this investigation that much more delicious because they fit that exact scenario...

EDIT: Guess somebody beat me to it AND looked it up. I have been research pwnd.

SWFLWolverine

June 2nd, 2011 at 8:27 AM ^

I know the NCAA reserves the right to go back after penalties have been issued and impose more harsh penalties should more information come to light. I don't know if those fall under the statute of limitations or not. Obviously listed above is the precedent of why this case does not have to be constrained by a statute of limitations.

Just a question, if a Coach leaves one school that is on probation in which the coach had been implicated in wrongdoing, but not confirmed, wouldn't you think that the NCAA would expect that the new employer would pay extra close attention to that coach and his athletes? And yet, from the Cooper quote we can assume that just the opposite was done, or there was a total lack of institutional control in which everyone, AD, Compliance, ADMIN, etc., knew what was going on!

Hardware Sushi

June 2nd, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^

Well I don't really know if there is any defined protocol for giving extra compliance attention. I'm fairly certain that compliance departments are supposed to make sure their athletic teams are compliant with the rules regardless of whether a university hires a coach that used to be a pastor or a coach that was indicted on embezzlement charges.

Which brings us to the question of why you would hire a coach that had been tainted by something like that in the first place....which brings us to the excellence at the University of Ohio State...

A2Fan

June 1st, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^

the residents of that embittered enclave are, it should not be long before all the finger pointing in the wrong direction backfires and scapegoats become whistle blowers.

 

 

readyourguard

June 1st, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^

This is like an episode of Holmes on Homes as he starts to peel back a corner piece of drywall to notice the evidence of water damage behind the walls that comes from upstairs.  Before you know it, he's got every wall and subfloor torn out to find the root cause of the problem.  And just like H on H, this shit's gonna be expensive.

Njia

June 2nd, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^

My father and I once owned an airplane together. We owned it for about five years. It only flew for one. After we spent two years rebuilding it, then flying it for a year, my dad decided it was a good time to get to some things that weren't safety critical but that we'd decided to put off the first time around. Every time I went to the hangar over the course of the next two years, some other part was removed from the plane. By the time he was done, more of the plane was on shelves and in boxes than on the airframe.

If that's the pace and outcome of the NCAA investigation, it will take longer than any of us will be able to stand, but there will be nothing left of that Athletic Department or its sports teams.

BlueHills

June 1st, 2011 at 11:36 PM ^

It's not great for the conference or the rivalry, but I have to admit to a guilty pleasure: 

I'm really enjoying watching this unfold.

Njia

June 2nd, 2011 at 12:04 AM ^

"Okay, gentlemen, let's get this one right. The new alma mater took some time to write and we don't want to screw it up.

/sweeps his arms toward the downbeat

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU..."