Clarett Says Ohio State Arranged Cash, Cars for Him

[Unklescott]

Former Running Back Claims He Was Involved in Cover-Up of Tressel's Actions
By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports


COLUMBUS, Ohio (Nov. 9) -- Former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett accused coach Jim Tressel, his staff and school boosters of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars, and thousands of dollars, including for bogus summer jobs. The school immediately denied the claims Tuesday.

Most of Clarett's charges, made in an interview with ESPN The Magazine, were addressed as part of an NCAA probe that found the running back lied to investigators, leading to his suspension from the team he helped win the 2002 national title.

Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger was not surprised by the accusations, saying Clarett had vowed to try to hurt the program.

"In moments of frustration during the investigation, (Maurice) might say something like, 'I can blow this whole program up,' or something like that, and so we would then say, 'OK, blow it up. Tell us what you know,"' Geiger said.

After being suspended by Ohio State and the NCAA for the 2003 season, Clarett went to court to challenge the NFL's rule preventing players from entering the draft less than three years after graduating high school. He won initial federal court ruling but lost several appeals and was kept out of the draft.

Friends and family members say Clarett has been working out with a personal trainer in preparation for the 2005 NFL draft. He has not spoken publicly in months.

"I have had a chance to read the article, and the allegations as they were mentioned are, simply, untrue. Period," Tressel said.

According to the magazine, Clarett said Tressel set him up with a loaner car.

Geiger said Tressel did try to help Clarett buy a car through the dealership that leases cars to several Ohio State coaches and administrators. But Clarett and his mother did not meet with the dealer to make arrangements to buy the car, and the dealership came to Columbus several days later to repossess it.

Geiger said Tressel's actions did not break NCAA rules, adding that the coach put other players in touch with the dealership, too.

Clarett also said members of Tressel's staff introduced him to boosters who slipped him thousands of dollars in cash -- the better he played, the more he would receive.

"When you'd leave, (the booster) sets you straight," Clarett told the magazine. "They say, 'You got any money in your pocket?' They make sure your money's straight."

Clarett said Tressel's brother Dick, a member of Ohio State's coaching staff, arranged to get Clarett a job working for a landscaper. Clarett said he was paid even though he did not show up for work. The player also alleged that the football staff arranged an academic adviser who set him up with professors who would pass him even if he skipped class.

Former Ohio State linebacker Marco Cooper also told the magazine he had bogus landscaping jobs, received furniture from a booster and borrowed cars from Columbus dealerships in exchange for signed OSU memorabilia.

Geiger said many of the claims were found to be baseless in investigations by the NCAA and the university. He pointed out that Cooper was kicked off the team for drug possession.

Clarett told the magazine he took "the fall" for Tressel and Ohio State when meeting with the NCAA investigators but was subsequently "blackballed" when he tried to return to school.

Geiger expressed faith in the Ohio State coaches, compliance officers and academic counselors.

"We don't duck. We're not afraid of what's coming. We're not afraid of what's here," Geiger said.

Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday at Clarett's mother's house in northeast Ohio and with his attorney.

In the article, Clarett says his main reason for speaking with the magazine was to "clear his name" with NFL owners and general managers.

Thom McDaniels, Clarett's high school coach in Warren, said Clarett will only hurt himself by making the accusations.

"I don't know how his coming forth with these comments helps him with his stock in the NFL. I think behaving that way only hurts his reputation and his marketability," McDaniels said. "That is not honorable behavior. At this point, who knows if it's fact or fabrication."

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/sports/ar..._ccc=3&cid=942
______________________________ ______________________________ _____
Geez, I wonder what will be on the front page of The Columbus Dispatch sports section tomorrow? Just what the OSU football program needs right now.

[Ilikai]

*yawn* another college punk that will never graduate with a useful degree crying poor, poor, me!!

[did_it_again]

This is the name of the game in big time college football and basketball,money.
Clarett never would have recieved an education even if he played out his four years of football at Ohio becuase they were only interested in his ability to run the ball. The story he tells could be true or they could be lies,but the things he sites can be checked out for acuracy.
Even if Clarett is lying everyone knows playes get set straight.
Prediction...Ohio get put on probation or gets reprimanded for they're part in this.

[gracie]

Clarett's problem is talking to his buddy LeBron and thinking he can get the same kind of deal in football that LeBron got in basketball. It will never happen. The more he talks the worse he makes things. He's becoming the one hit wonder of college football.

[Unklescott]

IMO, there really needs to be someone held accountable for this whole fiasco in the athletic department at OSU. Not only is there this with the football team, but the basketball head coach was fired for giving money to a recruit. There have been previous problems with the basketball program and the players getting in trouble. I think it is time for athletic director Andy Geiger to be held accountable for what has happened under his regime. I know I'm certainly held accountable by my employer for what happens in my restaurant.

[Burntcrow]

I am so tired of hearing about this idiot.

[veejer]

This whole Clarett deal taints their national championship.

[Burntcrow]

This whole Clarett deal taints their national championship.

not only that, It taints his career. He comes off as an arrogant, whiny, punk.

[ping007]

I am so tired of hearing about this idiot.

he won't be a good NFL player either, if he ever gets drafted

[Bill]

News today. OSU's AD admits in ESPN interview this afternoon that there is merit to some of the claims Clarett makes, but still says Clarett has not provided details. (this pretty much forced out of him as more athletes come forward with the same issues, see article below).

Tuesday, December 28, 2004


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1954785

ESPN.com news services
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger said athletic officials will sanction a businessman who gave improper benefits to quarterback Troy Smith.


The benefits led to Smith's suspension from Wednesday's Alamo Bowl, where the Buckeyes will face Oklahoma State.


Geiger said 46-year-old Robert Q. Baker, who shares a luxury suite at Ohio Stadium, gave Smith an unspecified benefit at the Columbus business he used to head, in violation of NCAA rules.


He said possible penalties include preventing Baker from buying tickets to Buckeyes football games or not allowing him to buy into a luxury suite.


The violation comes after Maurice Clarett made allegations to ESPN The Magazine of payments and improper academic help this fall.


"I'm not sure that I think everything that Maurice said lacked credence," Geiger told the Akron Beacon Journal. "But what wasn't there is what is there now -- we have an example of something that has happened.


"Do I think it's systemic or widespread? I have no evidence of that."


Geoffrey Webster, an attorney for Baker's former company, Poly-Care Services, called the university Dec. 9 after employees described an envelope being given to an Ohio State player who doesn't work for the company.


An employee was disturbed by Baker's boast "Now, I own him," Webster told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.


"I can't think of any way to make that a good statement," Webster told the paper. "I've spent 30 years as an attorney, word-smithing things. I have a real hard time coming up with anything else that he could have meant that could be a positive. I just can't.


"To say something like that is really wrong and really inappropriate."


Webster said it wasn't clear what was inside the envelope.


Smith was suspended for the bowl game and next season's opener. Ohio State will have to petition the NCAA for his re-instatement.


Being an alumnus of the university didn't prevent Webster from coming forward with the damaging details.


"I love Ohio State," Webster told the Plain Dealer. "I just think it's going to take awhile for this small cadre of boosters to figure out that this is not acceptable behavior. My concept of the booster program is that it's there to establish mentors for young men and women.


"A booster should be someone who helps them make good decisions, not someone who throws envelopes at a kid and puts them in a position where they have a hard time making a good judgment."


Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.