[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Serbian shadow

When I talked with coach Thad Matta in May about the addition of junior-college forward Nikola Kecman, and how he might be declared ineligible for some games if the NCAA found he had played for a professional team in his native Serbia two years ago, I had to ask Matta a touchy but necessary question.
Four years ago, when Matta was hired by Ohio State and getting a late start on recruiting, I asked him if he would try to fill the gaps in his program with foreign players. He said he didn?t think it was the best time for that considering that his predecessor, Jim O?Brien, had been fired for ?loaning? a Serbian player money and the program had been penalized for that and other violations involving another Serbian player, Boban Savovic.
In May, I asked Matta if he thought Ohio State fans had gotten past that sordid bit of history and wouldn?t paint Kecman with the same brush because his amateurism was being investigated by the NCAA.
?I would hope so,? Matta said.
Today I received this e-mail from a reader:



?You would think after the aftermath of Obie that Thad would stay 50 feet back from any hint of controversy. . . . I am not liking my peek into the soul of Thad Matta.?

I think it?s a reach to try to compare the two.

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