OSU football: Players sorry; Sugar Bowl isn’t | BuckeyeXtra

 LATEST SPORTS NEWS, News  No Responses »
Dec 292010
 

On a day when five Ohio State players said they were sorry for violating NCAA rules, Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan was unapologetic for pressuring OSU to try to keep the players eligible for the game.

On Dec. 22, Ohio State announced that six players would be suspended for selling memorabilia and/or accepting discounts on tattoos sometime early in 2009.

Linebacker Jordan Whiting drew a one-game suspension and was not part of yesterday’s apology. The other five were suspended for five games: offensive tackle Mike Adams, running back Daniel Herron, receiver DeVier Posey, quarterback Terrelle Pryor and defensive end Solomon Thomas.

But those suspensions will not take effect until the start of the 2011 season. OSU officials, along with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, successfully lobbied the NCAA to reinstate the players for the Sugar Bowl.

Hoolahan said he was first told of the possible suspensions a few days after Ohio State learned of them on Dec. 7.

He said athletic director Gene Smith said to him that OSU was trying to push the suspensions back to the 2011 season, and Hoolahan then told Smith how strongly he felt about the players participating in the Sugar Bowl.

“I made the point that anything that could be done to preserve the integrity of this year’s game, we would greatly appreciate it,” Hoolahan sa

via OSU football: Players sorry; Sugar Bowl isn’t | BuckeyeXtra.

 Posted by at 9:59 pm

NCAA defends Ohio State, Auburn rulings, denies playing favorites – ESPN

 AU FOOTBALL, LATEST SPORTS NEWS, News  No Responses »
Dec 292010
 

The NCAA defended its recent rulings in violations cases involving Ohio State and Auburn, saying it does not play favorites or make decisions based on financial considerations.

The NCAA posted a statement on its website Wednesday responding to critics. It says “the notion that the NCAA is selective with its eligibility decisions and rules enforcement is another myth with no basis in fact.

The NCAA says money was not a factor in its ruling against Ohio State. But Bruce Feldman writes it’s always about money when it comes to the NCAA. Blog “Money is not a motivator or factor as to why one school would get a particular decision versus another. Any insinuation that revenue from bowl games in particular would influence NCAA decisions is absurd, because schools and conferences receive that revenue, not the NCAA.”

Last week, the NCAA suspended five Ohio State players for five games next season for selling their championship rings, trophies and other memorabilia items, but is allowing them to play in the upcoming Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Before the NCAA handed down its penalties, Ohio State officials informed Sugar Bowl organizers that the school was lobbying for the players to be eligible for the Jan. 4 game.

via NCAA defends Ohio State, Auburn rulings, denies playing favorites – ESPN.

 Posted by at 9:56 pm

NCAA mulling tougher penalties for rules violators – NCAA Football – SI.com

 AL FOOTBALL, AU FOOTBALL, LATEST SPORTS NEWS, News  No Responses »
Dec 292010
 

The NCAA has been busy this season, investigating schools from Auburn to Georgia to North Carolina while trying to crack down on problems tied to sports agents.

Most of the investigations are open cases with unknown consequences for the schools.

But an NCAA panel two years ago has recommended stricter punishments for schools tabbed as serious rules violators – recommendations that remain under consideration and could mark the first substantive revision to the NCAA’s penalty system since 1985.

“It’s definitely not a dead issue,” NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said. “It’s still an ongoing discussion.”

The subcommittee of the Division I Committee on Infractions offered its recommendations in October 2008 to the Division I Board of Directors. The group of 18 university chancellors and presidents typically takes about a year to study proposed rules revisions, Osburn said.

The panel’s report is confidential. But interviews with the group’s former chairman and others knowledgeable about its contents indicate the recommendations include:

- A requirement that all schools found guilty of major violations lose scholarships. Current NCAA rules list that sanction as a “presumptive” penalty.

- TV bans, a penalty not applied to Division I violators since 1996.

via NCAA mulling tougher penalties for rules violators – NCAA Football – SI.com.

 Posted by at 9:20 pm
 Older Entries