5 OSU Buckeyes Suspended for 5 games in 2011 (Pryor, Herron, Posey,Adams, and Thomas)

[MadBadger]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Five Ohio State football players, including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, must sit out the first five games of the 2011 season for accepting improper benefits, the NCAA ruled Thursday.

A sixth football player must sit out the first game in 2011 for receiving discounted services in violation of NCAA rules.

All of the players be eligible for the Jan. 4 Allstate Sugar Bowl, however.

Five players were found to have sold awards, gifts and university apparel, plus receive improper benefits in 2009. In addition to missing five games next season, Pryor, Mike Adams, Daniel Herron, Devier Posey and Solomon Thomas must repay money and benefits ranging in value from $1,000 to $2,500. The repayments must be made to a charity.

Jordan Whiting must sit out the first game next year and pay $150 to a charity for the value of services that were discounted because of his status as a student-athlete.


The NCAA announced the suspensions on Thursday, shortly before Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and coach Jim Tressel were to meet with reporters to discuss the university's investigation of players trading autographs for tattoos.

Adams must repay $1,000 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring and Herron must repay $1,150 for selling his football jersey, pants and shoes for $1,000 and receiving discounted services worth $150.

Posey must repay $1,250 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring for $1,200 and receiving discounted services worth $50, while Pryor must repay $2,500 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring, a 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 Gold Pants, a gift from the university.

Solomon must repay $1,505 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring for $1,000, his 2008 Gold Pants for $350 and receiving discounted services worth $155.

"These are significant penalties based on findings and information provided by the university," Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president of academic and membership affairs, said in a statement released by the NCAA.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5950873

[wilt the stilt]

1. how many of these guys will now be playing in the NFL

next season.

[TZ]

2. Why not the bowl game?

Why next year? Yeah, NCAA, you don't play favorites do you....:eyes:

[caraher]

3. Because Tressel wears sweater vests?

After all, how could a program run by a guy with such a nerdy signature fashion not be sooo squeaky-clean you just want to run up and pinch its cheeks?

Oh, but realistically, it's all about $$$. From the article linked in the OP:

"The NCAA said in its news release that its policy for suspending players for bowl games or championship events "recognizes the unique opportunity these events provide at the end of a season, and they are evaluated differently from a withholding perspective.""

I take this to mean the "unique opportunity" to make money off a bowl game... this way, OSU gets to lose to yet another SEC team in a bowl game without being able to blame it on the NCAA, ratings etc. are still high, and all the players involved are free to slip off to the NFL draft if they don't like whatever sanctions OSU talks the NCAA down to.

That said, this is yet another example of the unfairness of the whole system to the players. They should be treated like the minor leaguers they in fact are. I think scholarship athletes should be able to defer using their scholarships until after they finish their athletic careers, so they can receive the full educational value of the scholarship.

[KamaAina]

10. That's the most innovative idea I've heard yet

I think scholarship athletes should be able to defer using their scholarships until after they finish their athletic careers, so they can receive the full educational value of the scholarship.

:thumbsup:

[Indianademocrat91]

4. ANY OTHER TEAM

and the players would be suspended for the bowl game, the NCAA is the biggest load of bull shit ever made in charge of anything. No reason why they should be allowed to play, they cheated, got caught and now are given a slap on the wrist because they are priveledged. If the school had any decency or the coach himself, they would suspend they players for the bowl game like FSU did. But why should we expect that?

Everyone knows OSU will just choke the game away like usual so I guess the NCAA is being nice and will give them a better shot at winning.

[Botany]

18. "Everyone knows OSU will just choke the game away like usual ...."

..... and the last team to beat # 1 ranked Oregon was?

Thanx for playing and pick up your lovely parting gifts before you leave.

8 BCS bowls in 10 yeas
3 National Championship games in 10 years
7 Big Ten Titles in 10 Years ... the last 6 in a row


BTW I think if the players did what they were charged w/ they They should not be allowed to play in the bowl game.
But the NCAA, OSU, and the network broadcasting the game are all about the money ..... sure they yap about the student athlete
"but in the end it is all about the dollars." Nicky Santoro

BTW part 2 Even without those players OSU would give Arkansas all they could handle.

BTW III Of the 5 players charged only Posey and Adams are NFL Locks ..... and Adams is "a long shot @ best"

BTW part D Ohio State has on many times suspended and or kicked people off their teams.

[hughee99]

21. BTW, Tressel has never beaten an SEC team... Ever. n/t

[Botany]

26. that is true but over all his body of work as a coach has been

very very good he is # 2 in all time wins for active coaches and he has had teams
in 9 National Championship Games (Youngstown State 6 championship games
w/ a 4 and 2 record, OSU 3 championship games w/ a 1 and 2 record).

Only a fool would argue that Tressel isn't a good coach.

BTW this Ohio State Team will put a thumping on Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl
.... count on it.

BTW part 2 Tressel has only played 3 SEC teams ..... South Carolina his first year
Florida in Jan 2007 and LSU in Jan 2008 (OSU should not have been in that game)

[Capt. America]

28. +1000

[quickesst]

29. We'll see....

.."BTW this Ohio State Team will put a thumping on Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl
.... count on it."

There are more Arkansas players and fans that want these guys to participate than tOSU fans. We don't wan't any excuses when the Razorbacks win, and win or lose, I'll be here to congratulate on a game well played, or a deserving victory. Will you? You don't mind in the mean-time if I don't "count on it"? Thanks.
quickesst

[Capt. America]

27. +1000

[madinmaryland]

5. All of them sold something they had won.

:wtf:

That strikes me as odd.

[JonLP24]

6. This isn't a big deal to me

I couldn't care less about what a player does with a championship ring. I'm glad they didn't suspend them for a bowl game, that would of been ridiculous, 5 games though still seems like an awful lot for this type of offense.

[TZ]

7. I'm pretty sure

That were these Arizona State players, or some non-BCS team they would not be playing in their Bowl game. If you don't believe that, you are very naive. And remember I'm an OSU fan but I know special treatment when I see it. It's pretty widely believed Pryor is going pro next year.

[hughee99]

22. I think the concern with this sort of stuff is that it's "memorabilia".

and it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. If you sell a $5000 car for $5K it's easy to see it's a pretty even deal. If someone pays $5000 for a game jersey, or theoretically $100K for a ring or trophy, it could be used by universities, boosters, and agents as a means to funnel money to college athletes.

[1gobluedem]

8. What doesn't make sense to me

Is that they're apparently allowed to play in the bowl game because nobody ever properly explained that they can't sell their awards given to them by the school, while they're in school. Huh? Nobody properly explained? So, Michigan runs 20 minutes over in practice and all hell breaks loose; there's an investigation over compliance but OSU players profit personally from selling memorabilia while in school and there's no talk about compliance issues? These suspensions better not be the end of it.

[Condem]

9. The NCAA and the BCS are a cancer that need to be eradicated.

The majors should secede from this farce and create their own entity. It is what it is... a business.

[madinmaryland]

11. Yeah. The NCAA has long since ceased being an "amateur" athletic association...

Now if you want to see true student athletes, you need to look to Division III schools. Where the students get a quality education and get to play sports as true amateurs.

:D

[Condem]

12. Pardon my cynicism in this great time of joy.

It must be the fucking horrible Christmas music my workplace has had on SINCE November 20th. Cam Newton will have to give back the trophy in a couple years. And now, you don't suspend these fellas for the Bowl game?!? It's all about the $$. The NCAA may claim to be the watchdog but it is a travesty. It's the same reason Calipari is still coaching B-ball. If you make us the big buck(eyes), we'll look the other way. The Mexican drug war is more on the up and up than this shit. Sad. Merry fucking Christmas. Holy shit. On further review I mispelled Christmas.
Don't want to take Christ out of Christmas. Stone my ass.

[madinmaryland]

13. It's BIG money for ALL of the BCS teams.

All 107 are in it for the money.

[era veteran]

25. Hell yes, student atheltes = slave labor

Mad, even UK football makes bIg money

[Elwood P Dowd]

14. You know absolutely NOTHING about the Cam Newton case except for lies and rumors

from unknown so called "sources" on the internet and the tabloid ESPN crew. Newton received ZERO extra benefits in his recruitment. The only charge was that his father was approached by a former Mississippi State player turned agent, Kenny Rogers, about getting some cash from another former Mississippi State player/booster for his son going to Mississippi State. No cash EVER changed hands and NO agreement was ever made between Mr Newton and the former Mississippi State players and boosters. Kenny Rogers has approached other parents of college recruits and even current NFL players trying to make shady deals so he can cash in on part of the deal. The NFLPA has banned this jerk because of his lies.

Several schools recruited Newton, including Auburn, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Kansas State. Every single one of those schools told the NCAA they NEVER heard a word about any so called "pay for play" deal from Cam or his father. It was only these two former players at Mississippi State who were also teammates back in the day. According to the NCAA rules, a player has to either RECEIVE extra benefits or him or his agent/family has to enter into an agreement to accept extra benefits. The Newtons did neither. The NCAA and Cecil Newton have both said there were some discussions with the Mississippi State former player/agent Rogers, but it ended there. There is ZERO evidence the kid even knew about the discussions. Cecil Newton even publicly stated last January after the recruiting process was over that Mississippi State wanted Cam as their "Rented Mule", and he didn't want his son going there. Also, Auburn had a MUCH better surrounding cast of talent on offense than Mississippi State and was only 90 minutes from the Newton's home.

The NCAA has Cecil Newton's financial records, the records of his church, and Cam's records. There is nothing there. The kid rides a motor scooter around Auburn, lives in a small apartment with a teammate, and spends his off time every Monday afternoon working with troubled kids at an elementary school. Cecil Newton's church, the one that ESPN and internet rumor mongers said was remodeled with hundreds of thousands of dollars by Auburn boosters, is still closed to the public because ALMOST NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE to bring it up to code other than a few leaking water pipes replaced! The New York Times sent a couple of reporters down to Georgia thinking they had themselves a nice, juicy story on this church, and they discovered the old building was no different than it was when Newton signed with Auburn. So much for that.

You and thousands of other sports fans like you want to destroy the life of Cam Newton and ruin Auburn because you actually believe this or want to believe all the lies, rumors, and conspiracy theories floating around the internet sports forums or pushed by ESPN. The NCAA made their ruling based on evidence you DO NOT HAVE! They have investigated this TWICE - once prior to the season and later when all the publicity about it hit the press. They have found Auburn and Cam Newton did not break any NCAA rules. Now Mississippi State, that could be a different story. If Cam had signed with Mississippi State and this came out, they could be in serious trouble. That being said, there are many, many examples of a recruit or his relatives asking for benefits at one school, and being ruled ineligible at that school but eligible at another school. The Albert Means case is probably the most famous one the past 10 years. His mother and high school coach received thousands of dollars in cash from a booster to send him to Alabama. When this was proven, Means was ruled ineligible at Bama but allowed to play at Memphis.

[Condem]

15. I want a laptop for Christmas, Elwood.

I better go out and steal me one.

[era veteran]

16. Both my Mcs stolen last week, the bitch is now I know who did it because

2 days later another house 2 doors down hit for a flat screen and they followed his tracks in the snow and caught his sorry neighbor ass. My shit was there and the dumbass cops could not put 2&2 together. Now I must refrain from crying motherfucking Havoc and going native on this trash. Sorry about the rant but the stupid cops have cost us $ 4400.00 or so. Oh Condem buddy you are wrong about Coach Cal. Too fucking hard to post with this media tablet. Merry Chrismas everybody. R

[Condem]

17. Merry Christmas, Era.

How can they NOT put this together? Hope you get your things back.

[Elwood P Dowd]

19. He didn't steal a laptop at Florida.

He purchased a stolen laptop for $150.00, and he wasn't the only Florida student who purchased merchandise from the same man. The charges were eventually dropped. Anyway, he was a freshman in college making a stupid freshman mistake. He has been a model citizen ever since his father shipped him off to JUCO to get his shit together and has been a model citizen at Auburn.

[era veteran]

23. I am with you, bunch of gossip and a few Mississippi idiots

I predict the big trophy going to the Plainsmen. SEC BABY!!!

[Elwood P Dowd]

24. Thanks era.

Yes, there has been a ton of lies, rumors, spin, and tabloid journalism from ESPN and other sports guys on Cam. A Fox News guy said he was cheating at Florida and booted out because of academics. There is no evidence of this, just some an unsubstantiated rumor. They said his father was shopping him around for $180,000 to various schools. The NCAA only found only one school, Mississippi State, and it was a former MSU player who started the talk about money. There was the ESPN story about Cam telling MSU coaches that "the money was just too much" at Auburn, but then the NCAA found no evidence of this statement or the phone call. It's kind of weird to think Auburn would even consider giving a kid money who was considered a "project" and "gamble" when they signed him. His performances at JUCO were impressive, but his two years at Florida were typical of an immature kid who was not ready for big time football. He was going to be a bench warmer for the third straight year had he returned in 2009. Even during Auburn's 2010 spring practices he was nothing special. He barely beat out Barrett Trotter for the starting job. It wasn't until the middle of the 2010 season that the light finally "came on" with 21-year-old Cam Newton.

[Iggo]

20. The NCAA is merely the watchdog of its own reputation.

And only in the short term, apparently.

I would say that it's time to clean house, but I fear it'd only be a facelift, then back to biz.