OSU football coach Urban Meyer addresses the media at the 2014 Big Ten Media Days July 28 in Chicago. Meyer was involved with one of 22 self-reported NCAA violations by OSU in the first half of 2014.
Credit: Tim Moody / Lantern sports editor
Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer and co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ed Warinner were each involved with at least one self-reported NCAA violation in the first half of 2014.
In all, OSU athletics self-reported 22 different NCAA violations, including six within the football program, from January through June.
One of the violations related to the recruiting of then-recruit Trevor Thompson, who has since joined the men’s basketball program at OSU.
Outside of football, the only OSU programs to self-report multiple violations this year through June are the men’s gymnastics program and women’s rowing. The men’s basketball program self reported one violation during the same time period.
In total, the violations spanned across 15 sports plus one violation committed by the institution, with football having the most violations. Men’s gymnastics and women’s rowing had two violations each. 14 of the violations related to prospective student athletes.
This information is the result of an open records request submitted by The Lantern July 8 which was released Monday morning by the OSU public records office.
Violations were self reported by the university every month from January through June except for March, with the most reports coming in June when there were eight.
Of the 22 violations, the NCAA deemed 10 of them needed no additional action after the University’s response. Eight of the violations are pending response from the NCAA and three from the Big Ten. Only one of the 22 violations has led to direct NCAA sanctions.
That violation stemmed from a football recruit’s visit to the university from Dec. 13 to 15, 2013. The prospect and his parents, who are separated, were each reserved their own hotel room during the visit. The OSU football staff was unaware of the fact that the player’s mother chose not to attend the visit, and so the prospect’s brother checked into the room instead. The NCAA ruled the recruit ineligible until he repays the cost of the room, if that cost is less than or equal to $100. If the cost of the room was greater, the recruit will be ineligible until he is reinstated by the NCAA.
Responses from the university included letters of education sent to coaching staffs, staff meetings with the assistant athletics director for compliance, a position currently held by Doug Archie, letters of reprimand and other assorted sanctions.
A March 5 report by The Lantern details all self-reported violations from the beginning of the year through February, which totaled nine self-reports, including two by the football team. The last violation report in that article was dated Feb. 20. Since then, the university’s self-reported violations have spanned from April 4 to June 25.
Football
Impermissible Phone Call Reported April 4
An assistant football coach accidentally “pocket dialed” a prospect on Feb. 4 before they were eligible to be contacted. OSU sent an educational letter to the football coaching staff regarding phone rules in relation to contacting recruits. The letter specifically acted to remind the staff to make sure they lock their phones to avoid pocket dials in the future. OSU also had the coaches wait until May 1 to make their single allowed phone call to the recruit.
Impermissible Publicity Reported April 7
A picture of an assistant coach with a recruit was accidentally posted to Twitter by the coach. OSU sent the entire coaching staff a letter of education about recruiting and social media focused on Twitter. Warinner and director of player personnel Mark Pantoni were each sent a letter of reprimand by the university because they did not immediately report the violation. Further response from the NCAA is pending.
Impermissible Publicity Reported April 9
Warinner unintentionally posted what was intended to be a private message to a prospect on his Twitter feed. As a result, OSU had Warinner participate in a social media training session with the school’s information and technology office.
Impermissible Publicity Reported April 22
Meyer accidentally posted a message visible to the public on the Twitter account of a recruit’s mother. The Compliance Office went over the recruiting rules specifically related to Twitter messages with the coaching staff on top of sending them a letter of education. Any further response from the NCAA is pending.
Men’s Basketball
Impermissible Text Attachment Reported May 30
A text-message attachment which was intended for recruiting purposes was sent to prospects Thompson and Esa Ahmad. The coaching staff was prohibited from sending electronic messages to either prospect for two weeks on top of receiving a letter of education. Thompson has since joined the basketball program while Ahmad is entering his senior year at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Women’s Rowing
Multiple Violations Reported June 12
The women’s rowing team reported two separate violations June 12, one involving two recruits taking official visits and the other involving impermissible contact by a graduate assistant coach.
One of the recruits was not put on the official visit request list before she arrived for the visit, while the other’s visit lasted longer than the 48 hours allowed by the NCAA for an official visit. The rowing staff was sent a letter of education by OSU and the Compliance Office provided the staff with a reminder of which hotels are technically on campus, and which are off campus.
The other violation was reported after a graduate assistant coach with the program sent a direct Facebook message to a prospect. The university decided to disallow the coaching staff from contacting that prospect until Sept 15, which comes two weeks after they would typically be allowed to contact the athlete.
Women’s Golf
Private Lessons to Male Prospect
OSU women’s golf coach Therese Hession gave a private lesson to a men’s golf recruit. Women’s golf coaches at OSU will now have to fill out “private lesson request forms” and be approved for the lesson by the Compliance Office before giving the lesson.
Riflery
Number of Contests
The OSU riflery team initially scheduled 14 competitions during the 2013-14 season, while only 13 are allowed. The school had to cancel one previously scheduled match in order to fall back within the scheduling limits.
