Jim O'Brien (officially erased and paid cheat)

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Rob Oller commentary: Trust me, there's plenty 'not' to write about here

Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:29 AM
By Rob Oller





This column is not about Jim O'Brien, who once slipped $6,000 to an Ohio State recruit. It is not about the former OSU men's basketball coach, who didn't come clean about the $6,000 until it was about to go public, five years later.
It is not about the Obie who says he gave the $6,000 to Yugoslav recruit Aleksandar Radojevic in 1999 for humanitarian reasons.
And it most definitely is not about the O'Brien who won his lawsuit against Ohio State in the gray areas, which turned his former employer scarlet.



Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

O'Brien's 3-year fight with OSU ends in victory
Ohio justices let $2.46 million award stand
Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:25 AM
By Bill Rabinowitz and James Nash


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Tom Dodge | Dispatch
Jim O'Brien: "I'm thrilled with the outcome."



The long, often-bitter feud between Ohio State and former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien ended yesterday. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld a $2.46 million award to O'Brien, who sued the school after he was fired in 2004 for giving $6,000 to the family of a former Serbian recruit six years earlier.
In a 5-2 ruling, justices declined to accept an appeal of lower court rulings filed by the university.
O'Brien said the ruling provided vindication.
"I'm thrilled with the outcome," he said in a phone interview with The Dispatch. "I have felt all along that I have been treated unfairly, quite frankly. We've had two decisions by the NCAA, and we won both of those on both appeals we had to go through. There's been three levels at the court system, and we've been successful at every level.



Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Full transcript of Jim O'Brien interview

Thursday, February 21, 2008 3:16 AM
By Bill Rabinowitz


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



Following the ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court that upheld Jim O'Brien's $2.45 million award from Ohio State, the Buckeyes' former men's basketball coach spoke to Dispatch sports reporter Bill Rabinowitz about the legal ordeal, his feelings toward Ohio State and his hopes of returning to coaching. Here is the Q&A of that interview:



Cont...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Regardless of the legal verdict, I believe tOSU did the right thing when they fired O'Brien.....I guess cheaters do win sometimes......

[ScriptOhio]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

I wonder if this decision will play on the administration at IU comes this Friday... supposedly.

Probably not, it all comes down to the specific wording of the coaches contract. I would not expect them to have the same exact contract provisions unless (of course) they happened to have the same agent/lawyer. Each case would be different and stand on it's own merits, etc.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Not to get to far off topic but.....I am sure the IU people have made note of this ruling.......the O'Brien effect is definetly a factor in their upcoming decision with Sampson.