Fansided

30 biggest college basketball scandals of all time

By Mike Phillips

Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images) /
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08 Mar 2002: Head coach Jim O”Brien of Ohio State shouts from the sidelines during the game against Michigan at the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. DIGITAL IMAGE Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
08 Mar 2002: Head coach Jim O”Brien of Ohio State shouts from the sidelines during the game against Michigan at the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. DIGITAL IMAGE Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images /

20. Jim O’Brien’s controversial Ohio State exit

A lot of these scandals in college sports end up needing courts to settle them, but the acrimony surrounding Jim O’Brien’s exit from Ohio State is in a category of its own. O’Brien ended up suing the school after he was fired in 2004, but before we get to that let’s offer a little context.

The Buckeyes were a very successful school under O’Brien, going 133-88 in seven years at Ohio State, including four NCAA Tournament appearances and a trip to the Final Four in 1999. Things began to unravel in 2004 when Ohio State fired O’Brien after athletic director Andy Geiger claimed the coach admitted to paying a $6,000 loan to former player Aleksandar Radojevic.

Radojevic, who was a Buckeye recruit, was not eligible to play due to his professional status in Europe, but O’Brien claimed his loan didn’t violate NCAA rules because Radojevic was no longer an eligible athlete. The investigation also revealed that Boban Savovic, a Buckeye from 1999-2002, had his housing paid for by a pair of Ohio State boosters.

The situation turned ugly when O’Brien sued Ohio State for breach of contract, eventually winning his court case and getting $2.4 million for his troubles. That cleared O’Brien of any wrongdoing in the Radojevic case, but Savovic’s housing was still a major rules violation.

Ohio State got hit with three years of probation, was forced to pay back money from all three of its tournament appearances with Savovic on the roster, and vacated all of their games from 1999-2002. O’Brien got slapped with a show-cause penalty, which effectively made him a persona non grata at the D-I level.