Report: OSU’s Tressel knew of gear scheme in April

Yahoo Sports has released a report that Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was informed that some of his players had sold memorabilia to a tattoo  parlor owner last April. The problem with that is it was more than eight months before Ohio State University became aware of the allegations.

On December 7th,  2010 according to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, a U.S. Attorney’s Office notified the school that some players were selling items such as jerseys and championship rings to Edward Rife, the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoo’s in Columbus Ohio.

After this was released, Ohio State launched it’s own internal investigation and notified the NCAA of possible rules violations.

Fast forward to December 23rd, quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other players were suspended by the NCAA for the first five games of the 2011 season but were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas. Ohio State went on to win that game 31-26.

If it is proven that Tressel knew about the violations and didn’t report them to the University and NCAA he and the University could come under more sanctions. According to the Yahoo report this could also result in the termination of Tressel. Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo report which cites Tressel’s contract.

Section 4.1(d) of Tressel’s contract with Ohio State stipulates that he “supervise and take appropriate steps to ensure … members of the Team know, recognize and comply with any such laws, University Rules and Governing Athletic Rules and immediately report to the (Athletic) Director and to the (Athletic) Department’s Office of Compliance Services in writing if any person or entity, including without limitation, representatives of Ohio State’s athletic interests, has violated or is likely to violate any such laws, University Rules and Governing Athletic Rules.”

Section 5.1 (m) of his contract also states that failure to promptly report “any violations” could lead to “termination by Ohio State for cause.”

Furthermore, Ohio State could be cited for playing ineligible players and may be forced to vacate the 2010 season in which the team had a share of the Big Ten title going 12-1.

This could only be scratching the surface of more serious violations.

Source: ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports, Associated Press