Ohio State Basketball Coach fired

Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jim O’Brien was fired yesterday for giving $6,000 to a recruit who never enrolled at the university.

The violation could be only the tip of the iceberg if an investigation by the university and the NCAA uncovers more wrongdoing during O’Brien’s seven-year tenure.

In addition to the payment to the recruit, a civil lawsuit filed in August by a Gahanna woman says she provided financial and other assistance to Slobodan "Boban" Savovic during his four years as an OSU basketball player. It alleges that former assistant coach Paul Biancardi knew of the arrangement among Savovic, the woman and two Columbus residents, and that Biancardi orchestrated some of it.

Biancardi, now head men’s basketball coach at Wright State University in Fairborn, did not respond to messages left by The Dispatch.

Asked last night whether the arrangement as described in the lawsuit constitutes an NCAA violation by Biancardi, Ohio State Athletics Director Andy Geiger said, "That’s part of the investigation." He refused to discuss it further.

O’Brien declined to answer specific questions during a brief interview at his Columbus home yesterday. A suitcase and travel bag were inside the front door; O’Brien said he was leaving the house in about five minutes.

"I have nothing to say about anything," he said.

O’Brien said his side of the story is "coming . . . but not now."

Asked whether he planned to contest his firing or was contemplating legal action against the university, he referred questions to his attorney, Jim Zeszutek of Pittsburgh, who did not return a call to his office from The Dispatch.

Zeszutek told ESPN that O’Brien was "crushed" by the firing. "He’s hurt that he would not have the op- portunity to discuss this (with officials from) Ohio State."

"I am troubled that a rule was admittedly violated and it took us five years to find out about it," Geiger told a hastily called news conference in the Schottenstein Center.

He told the media he had spoken with O’Brien earlier in the day.

"The coach was given a chance to resign or come to this conclusion, and he chose not to resign," Geiger said.

He named O’Brien’s top assistant, Rick Boyages, interim coach and said all other staff members will be retained while the university searches for a new coach.

Boyages, head coach at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., for three seasons before returning to Ohio State last year, was on the staff at the time the violation occurred. But Geiger said he was "assured by (Boyages) that he was not involved in this, and unfamiliar with it."

O’Brien had a 133-88 record at Ohio State. His teams reached the Final Four in 1999, his second season, won shares of two Big Ten championships, won a Big Ten Tournament title and played in the NCAA Tournament four times.

He had five years remaining on a contract that paid him about $900,000 in total compensation this year. Under terms of the contract, it could be voided immediately if he were found to have broken NCAA rules.

Geiger said O’Brien was "terminated for cause" for violating NCAA bylaw 13.2.1, which deals with illegal inducements.

Geiger said Ohio State reported the violation to the NCAA on May 18 and "since then, we have been working jointly with the NCAA and legal counsel on a complete and thorough investigation into the issues raised by the lawsuit and any other issues . . . that may arise in the course of that investigation."

The violation was a $6,000 payment O’Brien made to Aleksandar Radojevic, a 7-foot-3-inch center from Yugoslavia — and a friend of Savovic’s — who signed a national letter of intent with Ohio State in November 1998 while at Barton County Community College in Kansas.

Radojevic never enrolled at Ohio State. In May 1999, the NCAA ruled him ineligible for accepting $13,000 in 1997 from a Yugoslavian club team for which he played two games.

That summer, Radojevic was the 12 th player drafted, by the Toronto Raptors, in the NBA draft. He no longer is in the league.

Geiger said O’Brien made him aware of the lawsuit — filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court — involving Savovic’s benefactors last August but did not tell him until April 24 that he had given Radojevic money.

"He said that he was informing me because he was certain that it would be disclosed as a part of the lawsuit," Geiger said. "The coach explained to me that he gave (Radojevic) the money because he was concerned about the Radojevic family in Yugoslavia. Alex’s father passed away on Sept. 8, 1998, his mother was unable to work due to disability, and Alex has two sisters and a brother. . . . It was intended that Alex would send the money home to his family."

O’Brien’s attorney said that if the money "got there at all, it was after he was declared ineligible. If that was the case, then it would not be a violation."

Geiger said O’Brien realized he violated NCAA rules by giving Radojevic money.

"He admitted that he knew that he did, and a couple of weeks ago he offered to resign. I told him that as early as it was in our (investigation), that he should get very good advice and then make his judgment. Our next conversation about it was today."

Geiger said it was his understanding that the money was not from university funds.

A source familiar with college basketball recruiting said last night that Savovic, Radojevic and fellow Yugoslavian Slobodan "Cobe" Ocokoljic, all of whom signed with Ohio State in a six-month period from May through November 1998, were brought to the United States with the help of Semi Pajovic, a New York restaurateur who was interviewed by a Dispatch reporter while on the OSU campus with Radojevic and Ocokoljic in May 1998. Biancardi was the lead recruiter on all three players.

Savovic spent one year at a Newark, N.J., high school before enrolling at Ohio State. Ocokoljic was at Massillon Washington High School for two years and played at OSU for two years before finishing his career at Weber State in Ogden, Utah.

Geiger said he hoped the investigation would not hinder the school’s attempt to hire the best candidate to replace O’Brien.

"We will be candid with all candidates as to what circumstances we find ourselves in," Geiger said. "We hope that we can weather the storm and head forward with a good basketball program."

Posted by Ron at June 8, 2004 03:50 PM