Columbus, Ohio ? Jim O’Brien, fired by Ohio State and essentially banned from coaching by the NCAA for paying a recruit, can return to the college sidelines after an appeal changed his punishment.
An NCAA ruling on March 10, 2006, all but prevented any colleges from hiring O’Brien until May 2009. But in a decision released Thursday, an appeals committee changed the start date of the sanctions against the coach, making him free to return to coaching effective March 10.
O’Brien was fired on June 8, 2004, by then-athletic director Andy Geiger, who said he dismissed O’Brien for giving a 7-foot-3 Serbian recruit, Aleksandar Radojevic, a $6,000 loan in 1999 for family expenses.
