News broke earlier today that a couple of players who were suspended in the memorabilia-for-tatoo's incident in December were also involved in what could be called a pay for a "no show" job scheme in March of this year.
Last year's leading rusher, Daniel Herron, and the top returning receiver, DeVier Posey, along with offensive lineman Marcus Hall will not be permitted to play when the Buckeyes play at No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday.
Athletic director Gene Smith insisted at a Monday afternoon news conference that there was no "systemic" problem at Ohio State, which has admitted to having several players involved in different NCAA violations over the past 10 months.
He blamed it all on the athletes, former coach Jim Tressel and a booster who on Monday was banned from further contact with the Buckeyes.
"These failures are individual failures: failures of individual athletes, and as you know unfortunately a previous coach, and a booster," Smith said when asked if the latest violations will lead to more serious charges of lack of institutional control and failure to monitor from the NCAA. "So it's not a systemic failure of compliance. I'm optimistic and I'm confident that we will not have those charges."
I have to admit that I was pretty surprised when this story broke earlier today.
It is pretty clear that these guys could not care less about the rules. I mean they are already suspended and take money for a no show job?
As if that is not enough, Ohio State AD Gene Smith still says there is nothing is amiss...that there is nothing systemic in this current crop of violations.
From Smith's Statement (via Doc. Sat.)
"We're fortunate and optimistic that as we move forward with our broader case that there's no additional allegations to share, and optimistic that failure to monitor and lack of institutional control is not an allegation that will emerge.
[…]
"These failures are individual failures. Failures of individual athletes [and] as you know, unfortunately, an individual coach, and a booster. So it's not a systemic failure of compliance. … These were individual decisions by individual people. Were there lessons learned for us? No question. ... But at the end of the day, individual decisions were made to go off the reservation."
Sure they are individual failures.
But tOSU touting the largest compliance dept. in all of CFB we see that once again someone is asleep at the switch.
More perplexing is that this all happened at the hands of a booster...you know someone that the school should keep tabs on, someone who had access.
If I have said it once, I have said it a million times...this is not about Ohio State, it is about the NCAA being consistent. Ohio State (along with UNC, Miami, Ga. Tech anf UO) is simply the vehicle to see if the NCAA will be consistent.
Tressel was the university as much as the players are...and the players parents as well.
The NCAA looks bad here because it would appear that they rushed the investigation to get to the COI when there were a number of other unresolved issues. Now, they have delay their findings to investigate this.
Don't tell me that all is well with the car situation or that there were no other issues related to Tat-Gate. The NCAA barely looked at those things before going to the COI.
Even more embarrassing is how tOSU went through the very gates of hell to get those players cleared to play in the Sugar Bowl.
They gamed the system.
It was always about the money attached to a great match-up...eyes on the screens, butt's in the seats. They used the sham that is the BCS to give those players a "Unique Experience". The BCS says out of one side their of their mouth (when they stripped USC's of their crystal ball) that players must be eligible to play in a bowl game and then say nothing about these players who clearly broke the rules...players who then broke them intentionally a second time.
I feel bad for some Ohio St. fans...the ones who realize juts how bad this is. The ones who have actually taken the time to see just how dire things could get as the infractions pile up.
They are the ones who see how selfish these players are, they see just how bad their leadership is in continuing to not take responsibility, to say its not systemic when it clearly is.
Who knows where this ends up. Either way the NCAA looks bad once again...