Quote:
"Yeah, great job Obrien! In the past blue chippers wouldn't even answer your letters. Now you're in the top 5! Way to go!!!!" 
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Tibor,
please do not make remarks that are not true, here is a little info for you to ponder about the basketball programs recruiting under O'Brien....the following is a list of top 100 players according to ESPN.com that have signed with
OSU during O'Brien's tenure:
Zach Williams 2000
Brandon Fuss-Cheatham 2001
Matt Sylvester 2001
Ricardo Billings 2002
Ivan Harris 2003
Matt Terwillgner 2004
Jamar Butler 2004
2000 Recruiting class not ranked
2001 Recruiting class ranked #25
2002 Recruiting class not ranked
2003 Recruiting class not ranked
2004 Recruiting class ranked #24
Now, if blue chippers dont answer our letters than how did he sign these "blue chip" players? Its a given that a few of these players have not lived up to their ranking, but nevertheless they were top 100 players in their class.
The perception is that the program needs a star player, I dont agree, do we really need a star player with baggage (remember Clarett), I like what Obie has done with the program and he has taken them to the tourney 4 times in seven years, he is recruiting players that fit his system and I would rather have that than a player who plays one year and leaves, you cant build a program like that, we are not Duke, they are established, Obie is trying to build a top ten program year in and year out, it is tough because this is a football school and always will be, I think he is doing a good job of recruiting the right type of players.
anyone want to complain with the following results?
8-22, 27-9, 23-7, 20-11, 24-8, 17-15, 14-16, Total: 133-88
-1999, 2001, BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR
- Coached a pair of Buckeye seniors (Brian Brown and Boban Savovic) in 2002 who became the all-time winningest class with 93 victories over four seasons, a pair of Big Ten regular season titles, a Final Four appearance in 1999 and the 2002 conference tournament title.
Tibor = negativity
Do we want to have a honest program with quality kids or go the missouri route and have chaos? I support Obie all the way, let him do it his way.
COMMENTARY
Hairston turns down OSU, but it’s not O’Brien’s fault
Thursday, May 13, 2004
ROB OLLER
Jim O’Brien grew up in the psychedelic ’60s, when a common catchphrase among teenagers was "Never trust anyone over 30."
The Buckeyes, on paper, were thought to top the list of contenders. Hairston, a 6-foot-5 McDonald’s All-American from Detroit, had narrowed his list to
OSU, Kansas, Oregon, Oklahoma, UCLA and Michigan. But Ohio State came out ahead on Hairston’s points-based rating system, which considered such criteria as quality of coaching, proximity to home and opportunity to start immediately.
Ohio State has one of the game’s most honest coaches and best tacticians in O’Brien, Columbus is a 3½-hour drive from Detroit, and Hairston likely would have pushed J.J. Sullinger for a starting spot on the wing. Hairston also rated the likelihood of winning a national title.
Oregon has a relatively unknown coach in Ernie Kent, is a three-day drive from Detroit
Nearly four decades later, the 54-yearold Ohio State men’s basketball coach is on the opposite side of the timeline. Things have flip-flopped. It’s a new vantage point, and it screams, "Never rely on anyone still in high school."
At least not until they sign on the dotted line.
Obie got burned by teen spirit yesterday when top-10 recruit Malik Hairston chose Oregon over Ohio State and five other schools. and has about as much chance of winning a national championship as does MIT.
But . . . Hairston is a teenager, and teens — and their parents — are easily influenced and impressed.
"I couldn’t base my decision on (a rating system). The numbers didn’t mean much to me," Hairston said yesterday.
What did matter?
Hairston flew by private jet to Oregon for his official visit. Maybe he bumped into Nike founder Phil Knight while visiting the campus in Eugene. Maybe Hairston based his decision on future financial considerations.
Or maybe it was watching an NBA playoff game up close and personal that sealed the deal. Hairston was spotted watching a Detroit-New Jersey playoff game from the private box of Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, who wears Nike gear.
That’s the kind of quasi-ethical stuff that drives an oldschool coach like O’Brien nuts, which is why he has been loathe to play the recruiting game that centers on favors and perks. Come to school. Get an education. Play ball.
The alternative is repulsive to men of integrity — with good reason. When Missouri bounced
OSU from the 2002 NCAA Tournament, critics, including this one, questioned how the Tigers could recruit blue-chip talent but O’Brien couldn’t, or wouldn’t.
Fast forward to this week, when the NCAA determined that Missouri violated multiple rules between 1999 and 2003. The infractions included the alleged payment of players, impermissible contact with recruits and free meals to AAU coaches.
Give me character over shady characters every time.
That’s not to suggest Oregon broke rules to bag Hairston. The Ducks had two perimeter players drafted in the last several years and likely will add a third when Luke Jackson goes in June. That’s pretty tasty bait with which to hook a recruit. The Ducks also play a more uptempo brand of basketball than the Buckeyes, and Hairston likes to run. Oregon also sold the kid on becoming the most highprofile recruit in school history.
Still, the Ducks didn’t enter the picture until April. Ohio State had invested two years in the kid. Losing Hairston to a school that entered a 400-meter race with 20 meters remaining has to be a bitter disappointment for
OSU coaches. For the past year, they focused their recruiting efforts at the small forward position exclusively on bringing in the Detroit phenom, who would have been the highest-rated
OSU recruit since Jim Jackson in 1989.
And for what? In the end, the 17-year-old turned out to be a tease.
For O’Brien, missing out on Hairston has to reinforce the damned-if-you-do, damned-ifyou-don’t nature of recruiting. Go after a big name but fail to land him and you’re labeled a coach who can’t recruit. Choose to refrain from playing the schmooze game and they say you won’t recruit.
It’s enough to make a coach go gray. As anyone with teens will tell you.
Rob Oller is a sports reporter for The Dispatch
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roller@dispatch.com 
Tibor Spits More Hate At Obie
