Ethics Newsline®

COLUMBUS, Ohio
Ohio State University (OSU) fired head basketball coach Jim O’Brien last week after learning that he gave $6,000 to a recruit five years ago — a rules violation that the coach says was based on compassion, not competition.

O’Brien admits that he knew the $6,000 payment was a violation of NCAA rules, but says the funds were meant to help the struggling family of Aleksandar Radojevic, a 1999 recruit from Yugoslavia.

Last week’s firing, which ended O’Brien’s seven-year career at Ohio State, stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a local woman who accused O’Brien of reneging on a promise of $1,000 per week for helping Radojevic and other foreign players assimilate upon their arrival in the States.

While the lawsuit did not target Ohio State, athletic director Andy Geiger said the revelation of O’Brien’s $6,000 payment, which did not come from school funds, warranted swift and stern action, regardless of its motivation, reported the Boston Globe.

O’Brien, who declined to resign, last week released a statement saying that he was being fired “because I was asked to and tried to give assistance to a young man’s family who was in dire financial straits. The assistance in no way influenced the young man in his decision to attend OSU and, indeed, the young man did not enroll at OSU.”

Radojevic, whose eligibility to play college sports was ultimately denied by the NCAA, elected to enter the NBA draft, playing for Toronto, Denver, and Milwaukee before being sidelined by an injury in 2001, according to the Associated Press.

Asked if he was troubled that “because a guy cared about a kid, he’s lost his job,” OSU’s Geiger responded, “I’m troubled that a rule was admittedly violated and it took five years for us to find out about it,” reported the Globe.