The NCAA Committee on Infractions has handed the Ohio State football program a one-year postseason ban and slashed a total of nine scholarships over three years due to multiple violations dating back to December 2010.
The postseason ban is effective following the 2012 regular season. As a result of the ban, OSU willl not be eligible to play in the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game. OSU will still participate as scheduled in the Gator Bowl against the University of Florida Jan. 2, 2012, in Jacksonville, Fla.
OSU had previously self-imposed a reduction of five scholarships over three years, but the NCAA cut an additional four scholarships over the same time frame.
Additionally, the Buckeye football program will face three years of probation, one more than the school had self-imposed.
OSU athletic director and associate vice president Gene Smith said in a release tha he was surprised and disappointed by the NCAA’s ruling, adding that the university would not appeal the decision.
“We recognize that this is a challenging time in intercollegiate athletics,” Smith said in the statement. “Institutions of higher education must move to higher ground, and Ohio State embraces its leadership responsibilities and affirms its long-standing commitment to excellence in education and integrity in all it does.
“My primary concern, as always, is for our students, and this decision punishes future students for the actions of others in the past,” said Smith. “Knowing our student-athletes, however, I have no doubt in their capacity to turn this into something positive – for themselves and for the institution. I am grateful to our entire Buckeye community for their continued support.”
Former Florida coach and ESPN analyst Urban Meyer was hired two days after the conclusion of OSU’s 2011 campaign. Meyer responded to the NCAA’s announcement in a Tuesday release, saying the experience serves as a reminder that the behavior that led to the punishments is not a part of the college experience.
“I agreed to become the Head Football Coach at The Ohio State University because Shelley and I are Ohio natives, I am a graduate of this wonderful institution and served in this program under a great coach,” Meyer said. “It is still my goal to hire excellent coaches, recruit great student-athletes who want to be a part of this program and to win on and off the field.”
Former OSU head coach Jim Tressel was also administered a five-year show-cause penalty, meaning any school that hires him in the next five years could face NCAA sanctions.
During a Tuesday teleconference, associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference Gregory Sankey, a member of the Committee on Infractions as it reviewed OSU’s case, said that OSU was cited for failing to monitor its student athletes and was deemed a “repeat violator” by the NCAA.
“I think it’s important to keep in mind the failure of the former coach (Tressel) to divulge the information he received related to preferential treatment,” Sankey said.
In December 2010, five OSU football players — Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Dan Herron and Solomon Thomas — were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season after selling Buckeye football memorabilia in exchange for improper benefits in the form of tattoos. Linebacker Jordan Whiting also received a one-game ban.
After initially agreeing to a suspension for the now-concluded 2011 regular season, Pryor departed the university on June 7 to pursue a professional football career. His departure came just days after Tressel was forced to resign from his position after it was discovered that he was aware of the violations and failed to report them.
“Those matters were not properly dealt with in a timely fashion,” Sankey said. “That related to a competitive advantage that was gained and (resulted) in a BCS bowl game, which is one of the most high-profile team rewards available in the Football Bowl Subdivision.”
Pryor was then selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the NFL’s Aug. 22 supplemental draft.
The university announced July 8 that it would vacate the 2010 season in which the team compiled a 12-1 overall record. On Aug. 15, it donated its $388,811 share of winnings from the team’s Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas to charity.
Tuesday’s announcement caps a year-long rife with NCAA infractions for OSU football.
OSU met with the NCAA Committee on Infractions in Indianapolis on Aug. 12. After the meeting, Smith said he expected a final ruling to be handed down eight-to-12 weeks after the meeting, which put the expected release date between the Buckeyes’ trip to Nebraska on Oct. 8 and OSU’s home matchup against Indiana on Nov. 5.
But the ruling didn’t come and the 2011 season still held more bad news for the Buckeyes.
On Sept. 1, the athletic department announced the suspensions of junior running back Jordan Hall, sophomore defensive back Corey Brown and junior defensive back Travis Howard, who each missed two games for taking envelopes containing $200 from a university booster at a Feb. 19 charity event in Cleveland.
On Oct. 3, 2011, Smith announced that football players Herron, Posey and Marcus Hall would be suspended. The three players were overpaid by former OSU booster Robert DiGeronimo for work they did not do while employed by him this past summer.
Luke Fickell replaced Tressel as OSU’s head coach for the 2011 season. He led the team to a 6-6 regular season record which included the Buckeyes’ first loss to Michigan since 2003. Fickell will remain head coach for the Gator Bowl.