As expected, Ohio State’s appearance in front of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions produced nothing in the way of hard news regarding the allegations and potential sanctions the Buckeyes are facing. It did, however, produce a couple of interesting tidbits that were released around the time the hearing took place.
First, however, the mundane. OSU officials, including athletic director Gene Smith and former head coach Jim Tressel, were questioned by members of the committee for, by most accounts, nearly four hours in Indianapolis Friday morning and into early afternoon. No decisions were made on the sanctions OSU self-imposed earlier this year; that’s expected to come in 6-12 weeks.
Following the hearing, no one from the Ohio State side would speak to the media, although Tressel released a statement talking around his appearance and apologizing once again to Buckeye Nation.
Now, on to news containing a little more meat than that particular bone.
Earlier this week, Pat Forde of ESPN.com caused a mini-maelstrom by reporting that Ohio State had received a letter from the NCAA stating that the investigation into the football program was still ongoing. The school responded by releasing a statement denying there were any new allegations. Based on the release of two letters by the university today, they both appear to be technically correct. Somewhat.
The first letter, addressed to OSU president E. Gordon Gee, contained “an updated list of documents comprising the record of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.” There was no specific mention of an ongoing investigation in that letter. However, that letter did reference a document titled “Letter from Director of Enforcement Stephanie Hannah regarding the status of the investigation” and was dated July 14, 2011. That was the second letter, and it was also released by the university today.
In that letter, Hannah writes that, after a previous email on the situation had been sent, " an amended notice of allegations containing one additional violation related to the first allegation was issued to the involved parties” -- the involved parties being OSU and Tressel, among others, as the unspecified new “violation” likely pertained in some way to the former coach; that assumption’s gleaned from Hannah writing that the coach’s attorney “understood that the continuing investigation could potentially lead to additional allegations involving Mr. Tressel.”
Hannah goes on to write that it is still possible to move forward with the Aug. 12 hearing despite the one additional violation, although she notes that “additional review is necessary” and that “the investigation remains open.” As the investigation remains open per the NCAA, Hannah advised OSU what could happen if further allegations are proven.
In addition to the release of the two previously unseen letters, the school also announced that they would be returning their share of the BcS money they received for playing in the Sugar Bowl. As any money received from BcS bowl games is split in the Big Ten, OSU will be returning roughly $338,000. We’re assuming that means they will be returning it to the conference, although that’s unclear right now.
So, thus far, Tressel’s decision to launch a one-man cover-up and lie about knowledge of potential violations has cost the university more than $1.1 million -- $300K-plus in BcS money, more than $800K for the NCAA investigation -- and that total doesn’t even include the immeasurable harm to the university’s reputation.