Ex-Buckeye Tells All
Small told The Lantern on Wednesday he profited off of memorabilia while at Ohio State, adding that some student-athletes "don't even think about (NCAA) rules."
"I had sold my things but it was just for the money," Small said. "At that time in college, you're kind of struggling."
Small, who played receiver at OSU from 2006-2010, capitalized on the Buckeyes' success during his college career.
"We had four Big Ten rings," he said. "There was enough to go around."
Small said he sold the rings to cover typical costs of living.
"We have apartments, car notes," he said. "So you got things like that and you look around and you're like, ‘Well I got (four) of them, I can sell one or two and get some money to pay this rent."
The wheeling and dealing didn't stop with rings. The best deals came from car dealerships, Small said.
"It was definitely the deals on the cars. I don't see why it's a big deal," said Small, who identified Jack Maxton Chevrolet as the players' main resource.
The Columbus Dispatch reported on May 7 that OSU was investigating more than 50 transactions between OSU athletes and their families and Jack Maxton Chevrolet or Auto Direct.
Representatives for Jack Maxton Chevrolet did not return repeated requests for comment.
NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from benefiting from the sale of their merchandise. Small said he wasn't the only one.
"They have a lot (of dirt) on everybody," Small said, "cause everybody was doing it."
Nothing breaking here, all seems like stuff that has already been mentioned, but from the horse's mouth, this is pretty big. Bring tha hammah down!
Desmond tweeted it about 45 minutes ago. I am pretty sure that Ray Small was almost out of Ohio State due to many problems that he had there. Ray talks about it like it was no big deal, maybe, but the big deal was Tressel covering it up.
This leads us to question how much of these goings on Jim Tressel (and the AD, for that matter) knew about prior to the whole Pryor/tatgate blowup. Was Small continually in Tressel's doghouse for your usual disciplinary stuff, or did JT also know about his spending habits and apparently consistent compliance violations? This could get even uglier. Really makes you wonder what bomb SI is going to drop next week.
for grades, skipping team meetings, grades, pot (allegedly), ignoring curfew, grades, etc.
You're missing the part about the car deals and the quote "everybody was doing it." This is something new and shouldn't be overlooked.
A few weeks ago the dealer in question, who has since moved out of Columbus, said he didn't just give deals to football players, but a ton of OSU athletes (sorry no link, heard it talked about on the radio). This doesn't just stop at football.
Lack of institutional control, anyone?
I saw it in print also, and I can't tell you which paper either. I think it was just a small Ohio one. Anyway, thinking he was somehow helping his position, the car salesman said pretty much what you referred to- "I didn't give special deals to OSU football players - I gave them to all the OSU athletes". (paraphrased) He went on to say that he wasn't breaking rules - he just got lots of business from the athletes because word got out what a swell guy he is, and the rest was history . . .
So, while he was losing money on each transaction, he was making it up in volume.
!!!
...but car salesmen (and dealerships, to some extent) make considerably more money from volume-based bonuses than they do from per-sale commisions. Pure speculation here, but I would think most of the athletes bought used cars that the dealer acquired from auctions and/or trade-ins. It is really hard for a dealership to lose money on a used car sale. Anyone who has ever traded in a car knows you rarely get the actual value of the car, and many times dealerships pay even a lower percentage of the book values at auctions. So the dealership(s) in Columbus gave the athletes deals at minimal profits, used those numbers to boost their volume, and posted photos of the athletes to impress the OSU fans that came in. Once the Bucknuts came in and saw the photos on the walls, the dealership would use that as leverage and could charge Joe Buckeye more to compensate for the deals they gave athletes.
Also, OSU fans are going to claim that Small is sour because of the way his college career went. I am sure he is already being referred to as a traitor, trash, etc. Bound to happen.
You think like a sharp businessman. I suppose if the universities can profit from the likenesses of student atheletes, it doesn't seem entirely unfair that local entrepanuers were doing the same. I wonder, what about that scenario would push it beyond the bounds of NCAA rules?
...this whole thing is so fuzzy. Were the 50+ and counting car deals to players/family members available to everyone? Those records will probably be poured over by OSU's compliance folks and by the NCAA. If the average used car on at that dealership sold for, just for grins, 50% more than what the dealer was into it for and players/family members a significantly lower percetage (5-10%), then I'd say they were getting benefits/deal that weren't available to everyone.
As for me thinking like a sharp businessman...I am not proud to say that I fell on some rough times a few years ago and sold cars to make ends meet. Not my finest three months, and I exited stage left at the very first opportunity. But I learned a lot about the business in that time and I will never pay over dealer cost for a new car again.
so what is the problem with everybody getting a deal on a car as well?
Ray ain't comin home!
Herbstreit'd
Ray ain't comin home!
If you'd read the article, you'd have seen this:
In his four years in scarlet and gray, Small – who is back at OSU pursuing a degree in sociology – totaled 61 receptions for 659 yards and three touchdowns.
and saying a big FU to the NCAA and all of the complainers. Seriously.
He, like many, many other OSU fans/ alumni believe that absolutely nothing will happen to JT or to their program. He probably really doesn't see this as a big deal, because nothing will happen.
It's starting to sound like another goldmember movie and it's all bad but sooo good . Tressel =Dr.Evil , Gordon Gee =Mini Me and Gene Smith as #2.... And Hoke is Goldmember bringing the swagger back! Yeah Baby! Randy
I wonder how much of a severance pay The vest gets? 100 million dollars mwuahhhhhahahhahhahahahaha
that article seriously as it quotes Mark Titus' Club Trillion blog.
Using one quote out of the thousand plus words he typed, which doesn't do anything to point out the sarcastic nature of his blog.
So you were unable to pick out when he was making the point that he felt OSU players drove nicer cars that most college kids would be unable to afford and when he was being sarcastic talking about weed and hookers?
This is what I like to hear. Validation from former players. Small just got done at tOSU, so that makes him an excellent witness for the NCAA with regard to further things to investigate.
It sounds like they had to sell their stuff in order to take advantage of all the hook ups they were getting.
If I were USC and Ohio State doesn't get hammered worse than they did I'd file a lawsuit. OSU players are straight out admitting things that happened. If OSU doesn't get hammered for this their needs to be an investigation into the NCAA.
likely.
On one side, I'm delighted that they're in trouble. Getting rid of Tressel would be great for us, seeing their fan base experienceing some distress is gold, etc.
On the other hand, I see this as breaking rules that are a bit over the top in the first place. Yes, Tressel should be in trouble because he covered up violations of rules, his role in this is unquestionably subject to criticism. However, I can't really find much energy to be upset with the players' roles in this. The players were in a state of financial need, they had redundant assets and they sold off some of these to be able to afford rent, cars, food, etc. It's not as if they gained much competitive advantage through this.
If a culture of PED abuse was revealed, then yes, I would be all high and mighty (though I would be equally concerned that we would be next). However, this scandal does not leave me with the sense that "we're better than you because we didn't cheat" any more than the excessive practice time investigation made me feel like we were cheats.
The rules are very strict and they are made that way to allow for a level playing field and to limit corruption. If we ignore Tressel's role in this, the rest of it hardly amounts to an SMU-level of rule abuse. It's more of a speeding violation than a rape or murder. IMO.
Small affirms that players received "deals on the cars." Would it matter to you what kind of deal they received? If it were 95% off any new car on the lot, would it still seem analogous to stretchgate? What if a central recruiting pitch over the last decade happened to be "come to OSU and have any car you like," and the Buckeyes stockpiled talent and excelled on the field?
We're still in the infancy of the fact-finding stage; pretty early to reach conclusions at this point including whether or not there may have been a competitive advantage.
Exactly. A lot of OSU fans try and rationalize the whole thing away by saying that the players were just selling their stuff. But if players are allowed to sell the stuff that they get from the team, why not give gold pants for every victory? Or maybe diamond pants? It amounts to paying the players extra benefits. All things being equal, if one school is paying extra benefits and another is not, which one do you think will fare better in recruiting? Improved recruiting does lead to a competitive advantage.
In Columbus, the players are going to be "victims" and Tressel will be a martyr. And every statement they made about Michigan's "troubles," both in basketball and football, will be turned into their polar opposites concerning TSIO.
I have long been on record with my belief that athletes should be able to take money from wherever they want to, but the bottom line is that the rules say they can't. TSIO has a corrupt system that has broken the rules forever, and it creates a competitive advantage on the field when they play schools that follow the rules.
As for any comparisons to "stretchgate," these offenses are at least 100 times as bad. Consequently, TSIO's punishment should, mathematically at least, be 100 times as bad as Michigan's was. Obviously, it won't happen, but there is enough evidence coming out that TSIO should get the worst penalty given to a program since SMU.
Cash cows like TSIO don't get the "death penalty," but they should get some of the most severe scholarship restrictions ever given to a school, and should be banned from bowl games for at least two years and preferably five. Let them vacate every win in the Tressel era.
The trendy argument is that punishments don't affect the guilty, but something has to be done to interrupt TSIO's pattern of wanton disregard for the rules. If current or future players think it is "unfair," all they have to do is decide to go somewhere else. The whole point of punishing a program is to render it less effective for a period of time that compensates for the elevated performance their cheating provided them.
Let TSIO's football program be paralyzed for five years like Michigan's basketball program was. Let them spend the next five years after the penalty digging themselves out, like Michigan's basketball program has.
The Scarlet Wall of Silence has finally crumbled. Let the pieces scatter where they may.
Well put.
that the Ohio BMV investigation has determined there were no special deals for players, but the dealership may not have reported all taxes. Hopefully, that's the case. .
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/teninvestigates/stories/2011/05/25/sto…
Exactly. My four years (and actually still counting) of eating Ramen noodles, spaghetti, eggs and toast every freaking day ... and basically living in squalor hates them with the passion of 1000 suns.
i liked my ramen noodles.
and I've been out of school for 20 years.
That's almost the equivleant to the sulturiness of a hundred quazars!!!
*quasars
Well, you can survive without them, but it certainly has a big impact on your social life. If only somebody wanted to offer me some tats and a deal on a sweet ride for my ME 350 senior design project. I would've totally jumped at that!
{sigh}
Yes, the items they sold (that we know about) have some street value.
However, it would be a nightmare for the NCAA to police what transactions should be considered legitimate and which ones shouldn't.
Example..... Lets say a player "needs" money and a booster, disguised as a car salesman, offer him $500 for his used comb. Would you feel the same way about this if the items in question were worthless trinkets as opposed to gold rings and pendants?
It seems silly on the surface, but when you really think about it, it's a necessary rule.
if the player was receiving $500 for a worthless item, then the violation would be even more flagrant. At least with the gold pants, you could argue, "What's the difference if I have a piece of jewelery worth $500 or if I have $500?"
This is a perfect example involving Michigan that completely refutes the pay-for-play "doesn't hurt anyone" argument. Tell that to Lloyd Carr. How different would the end of his career and his legacy be if Tressel hadn't allegedly cheated to stockpile players and succeed on the field. I think you're completely underestimating the harm this type of action has on neighboring institutions and coaches.
Precisely right. Take a snap shot of last year. If Tressel plays by the books as he should have, does OSU win the BIg 10 without those 6 players? Not a chance. Does it beat Arkansas to snap it's 0-9 SEC streak? No way.
My favorite part of all of this will be when OSU is required to vacate last year, thus returning them to Oferville (0 for 9) vs the SEC.
Funny how they were trying to line up a home and home with Venderbilt.... Vanderbilt... Wonder why.
If the players really had nice cars and some other perks it didn't go unnoticed by recruits. It would have given them a persistent advantage in recruiting.
I'm not sure the recruits necessarily noticed the new cars.
I do bet, however, that the recruits noticed the hired girls at the parties who would do anything the players wanted.
And the girls sitting on their laps on the drive from the airport to campus, because Tress forgot to leave an open seat for the recruit.
girls don't need to be hired to be jersey chasers. Football players can fall into crease at any big school.
Man, OSU is the gift that keeps on giving! we still have a little more than 2 months left until the hearing... What will they come out with next!?!
Fake as hell.
if you want some great comedy, read the comments from the article...not what you think it is