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Ohio State

The NCAA has notified Ohio State that it will face a "failure to monitor" charge in addition to more allegations of rules violations by its troubled football program.

Ohio State will strip itself of five total football scholarships over the next three years in response to the further alleged violations, the school announced Thursday.

The Buckeyes, who were awaiting a ruling after appearing before the NCAA committee on infractions Aug. 12 for the tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal, received another notice of allegations from the NCAA on Nov. 3. Those allegations revolved around a Cleveland-area booster who provided extra benefits to players.

"Failure to monitor" is among the most serious allegations the NCAA can bring against a member school.

Ohio State president Gordon Gee expressed disappointment Thursday in athletic director Gene Smith for not properly monitoring the actions of the ex-booster, Robert DiGeronimo.

In a letter to Smith, dated on Thursday, Gee wrote, "I am disappointed that this is where we find ourselves. You know I find this unacceptable."

School officials are scheduled to appear before the NCAA infractions committee again on Dec. 10 to answer to these latest charges. However, Ohio State has asked to have the charges reviewed during a conference call the week of Nov. 28 -- the final week of the football regular season.

The NCAA alleged that DiGeronimo provided a total of $2,405 in extra benefits to nine football players. That included payments of $200 each to four players who attended a charity event in February, and five players who were overpaid a total of $1,605 for work they did not perform in summer jobs at DiGeronimo's excavation company.

DiGeronimo has admitted giving $200 to running back  Jordan Hall , cornerback Travis Howard, defensive back  Corey Brown  and former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor at the charity event.

Hall, Howard and Brown were each suspended earlier this season. Running back  Dan Herron , receiver  DeVier Posey  and offensive lineman Marcus Hall were suspended for their role in the summer job case. Herron and Posey had their five-game suspensions stemming from the tattoo scandal lengthened.

DiGeronimo and Posey have disputed the allegations of overpayment for jobs.

Ohio State disassociated itself with DiGeronimo on Sept. 20 and announced it was taking measures to enhance its education and compliance monitoring.

But the NCAA said the school "failed to take appropriate actions to determine if DiGeronimo continued to employ student-athletes or host them at the charity event despite concerns about his interaction with the football program."

In addition, the NCAA said Ohio State "failed to educate football student-athletes about DiGeronimo, encourage them to cease interaction with him or inquire about their potential employment with DiGeronimo and attendance at the charity event."

DiGeronimo's charity, called Cornerstone of Hope, was involved with a secondary violation involving a lack of paperwork in 2006. In its response, Ohio State said it told DiGeronimo to stop interacting with coaches, visiting athletic facilities and being around the program.

However, the school still allowed athletes to work at DiGeronimo's company and attend his charity events -- though it said players were strongly encouraged to fill out the necessary paperwork to do so.

DiGeronimo had been an Ohio State booster since the 1980s, when he was part of a group known as the "committeemen" who helped recruit players before such practices were outlawed.

DiGeronimo contributed more than $72,000 to the athletic department since 1988 and had been a season ticket holder for years, the report said.

DiGeronimo was one of a group of outsiders who had access to Ohio State's locker room on game days, a practice that coach Jim Tressel stopped after taking the job, according to the NCAA report.

By HANNAH KARP

Ohio State football players celebrate their January Sugar Bowl win, one of the victories now vacated.

Ohio State University is vacating all of its football program's 2010 wins, as well as its Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas in January 2011, in the wake of a scandal that cost head coach Jim Tressel his job.

The move was part of a formal response to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's official notice of allegations to the school in April, after discovering Mr. Tressel failed to report that some star players had swapped memorabilia for cash and tattoos.

Other steps included changing Mr. Tressel's resignation to a retirement, self-imposing a two-year probation and suspending five players for the first five games of next season.

Mr. Tressel said in a statement that he was thankful for the opportunity to retire, thereby collecting the salary and benefits owed him through June 30. He added that he would remain a Buckeye "forever," continuing to cooperate with and assist the school in the future.

Former star quarterback Terrelle Pryor was also suspended but left school to pursue a job in the National Football League after Mr. Tressel resigned in May.

In a statement, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said, "We are taking a very hard look on our own at all aspects of our athletic programs to identify and implement improvements designed to ensure that we uphold the highest ideals of honor and integrity. Throughout the entire process since we discovered possible infractions, Ohio State has consistently acted to investigate any allegation, self-report its findings to the NCAA, communicate transparently about its findings, and take necessary remediation steps."

But the question remains whether these penalties are sufficiently tough. Ohio State came under fire this winter for its relatively tepid initial response to the crisis, in which it suspended Mr. Tressel for two games and slapped him with a $250,000 fine, which has since been waived. A university spokeswoman declined to comment on the reason for the waiver.

One weapon the NCAA has in its arsenal is restricting schools' television appearances.

In its April letter to Ohio State, the NCAA requested a review of the school's obligations concerning live telecasts of games for the next three seasons. The TV revenue generated by a major football program generally helps to subsidize a school's less profitable sports like golf and swimming.

Gerry DiNardo, a former head coach at Louisiana State, Vanderbilt and Indiana universities, said he thought Ohio State's response was appropriate based on the disclosures of wrongdoing to date, though he added that "future penalties," such as revoking scholarships, are generally "more effective than vacating wins."

"If nothing else has come out, I think this is fair. But do I think this is over? No I don't think this is over," said Mr. DiNardo, an analyst for the Big Ten Network. "The NCAA still has to respond, and if the NCAA does more, I might be OK with that."

Former Ohio State quarterback Stanley Jackson said he thought his alma mater's response may have been too harsh.

"I'm not sure we had to vacate the Sugar Bowl victory—the NCAA knew what the players had done at that point and still allowed them to play," said Mr. Jackson, now a color analyst for Ohio State games.

But, he added, "there's always a consequence to your action, and we had a handful of guys that made some poor decisions."

The university said it will have no further comment on specific allegations.

Write to Hannah Karp at [email protected]