Journal News: Former Ohio State coach awarded $2.2 million for wrongful firing
Ohio State must pay former basketball coach Jim O’Brien about $2.2 million plus interest for wrongly firing him for giving a recruit $6,000, a judge ruled Wednesday. The award in the Ohio Court of Claims ends two years of controversy at Ohio State, which was handed NCAA sanctions for the money given to the recruit in addition to losing the lawsuit brought by O’Brien. O’Brien, 56, who coached the Buckeyes for seven years including a trip to the Final Four in 1999, was fired in June 2004 after revealing to then-athletic director Andy Geiger that he had given the money to Serbian prospect Aleksandar Radojevic. He had sought $3.6 million in his lawsuit.
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