Former Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien has become a viable candidate to return to a sideline after Thursday's announcement that his show-cause penalty was dropped by the NCAA.
The NCAA appeals committee granted O'Brien the opportunity to resume his career, revoking the NCAA infraction committee's show-cause penalty that was set to expire in May 2009. It was originally set to expire in March 2011, but was reduced by the NCAA last May.
A show-cause penalty doesn't prevent a school from hiring a coach but it means that if it does, the school must then appear in front of the committee on infractions and see if further sanctions should be imposed on their new hire.
There hasn't been a basketball coach with an existing show-cause penalty that has been rehired. Athletic directors tend to shy away from entering the process with the NCAA.
O'Brien, 57, was cited after admittedly giving former recruit Aleksander Radojevic $6,000 in 1998. Radojevic signed with the Buckeyes but never played for them, opting for the NBA draft; he was a first-round pick of the Toronto Raptors. O'Brien was fired June 8, 2004 after he admitted making the payment, which he contested from day one that it was for humanitarian reasons.
O'Brien's attorney, Joseph Murray, issued a statement Thursday that the appeals committee vacated the findings on O'Brien relating to a "humanitarian loan" to the "widowed mother" of a "professional basketball player who was living in war-torn Serbia."
Murray's statement said O'Brien can pursue coaching opportunities.
"I am pleased that my 3½-year battle with the NCAA has finally come to an end and resulted in victory," O'Brien said in a statement. "Today's decision by the appeals committee is significant for me both personally and professionally. I have felt all along that the penalty imposed upon me by the Committee on Infractions was both excessive and unjust, and I'm thankful that the Appeals Committee has vindicated our position and that now, if I choose to coach again, I can do so without restriction."
Ohio State was placed on three years' probation following the investigation into O'Brien's payment to Radejovic. Former Buckeyes assistant Paul Biancardi also was cited and, like O'Brien, ultimately lost his job as head coach at Wright State. Biancardi landed on his feet, after his show-cause penalty ended on Oct. 1, and is now a member of Rick Majerus' Saint Louis staff.
Ohio State self-imposed a ban from the 2005 postseason and the loss of two scholarships that season. The school vacated its 1999 Final Four banner, as well. At last season's Final Four, game notes issued to the media bore no mention of the Buckeyes 1999 Final Four appearance.
Meanwhile, O'Brien sued the university in an attempt to recover his salary, since Ohio State did not pay him after his firing. O'Brien won the suit and was awarded approximately $2.5 million plus interest, but the decision was upheld on appeal. Murray said the university requested the Ohio Supreme Court consider the case, and O'Brien is awaiting a decision.
While O'Brien waits for the money, the NCAA ruling Thursday puts him in play for any job that opens in the spring. O'Brien coached at Boston College prior to being hired at Ohio State.
