Ohio State has self-imposed postseason bans for three of its varsity sports teams due to NCAA infractions.
Ohio State's women's basketball, women's golf and fencing teams will all be unable to participate in postseason competition for the 2020-21 season as part of self-imposed sanctions by the university in response to an investigation by the NCAA into those programs, the university confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.
“The Ohio State University Department of Athletics is currently working cooperatively with the NCAA Enforcement Staff on an infractions case involving three sports programs: fencing, women’s golf and women’s basketball,” the statement said. “Ohio State has self-imposed post-season competition bans for each of the sports for the 2020-21 year. As always, we are focused on supporting our student-athletes. NCAA rules and procedures prohibit us from sharing more information at this time.”
While Ohio State initially sought to self-impose penalties that did not include a postseason ban, the NCAA determined that those penalties were not harsh enough, leading to the decision to ban all three of those teams from postseason competition for one year.
Ohio State is also vacating all wins for women's basketball and fencing competitions in which ineligible athletes participated. Both teams have reduced scholarships (5% for fencing, 7% for women's basketball) for the 2020-21 academic year and face several restrictions on recruiting activity.
As first reported by Buckeye Sports Bulletin's Wyatt Crosher, former Ohio State women's basketball assistant coach Patrick Klein “violated Ohio State’s sexual harassment policy through text messages and social media interactions with at least 13 student-athletes” and Klein's behavior toward those athletes “consisted of a pervasive pattern of conduct that was reasonably perceived to be sexual in nature and that it interfered with the athletic experience of those student-athletes.”
The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found that Klein also provided gifts to certain athletes, including paying for meals and purchasing gifts. Klein resigned from his position in August 2019, and Ohio State has since changed his employment designation to “resignation in lieu of termination.” He has been given a three-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA. Per the summary disposition report submitted to the NCAA, head women's basketball coach Kevin McGuff “had no knowledge of Klein's improprieties, nor that NCAA violations occurred as a result of Klein's improper relationships.”
According to the summary disposition report submitted to the NCAA, former head fencing coach Vladimir Nazlymov arranged, provided or directed members of the fencing coaching staff to provide impermissible recruiting inducements to multiple prospective athletes. The fencing program also committed several other violations including an assistant coach operating an impermissible fencing club used by prospective athletes, providing athletes to access to a local sports club without paying fees and exceeding the maximum number of countable coaches on staff. Nazlymov's employment designation with the university has been changed to “retirement in lieu of termination,” while associated head fencing coach Aleksandr Smerdin was also fired. Nazlymov has also received a five-year show-cause penalty.
The Ohio State women's golf program received a one-year postseason ban after it was determined that head coach Therese Hession required her team to participate in countable athletically related activities beyond the NCAA's legislated daily and weekly hour playing season limitations. Hession is still employed by Ohio State, but was suspended for a three-week period this fall and will be suspended for the first four dates of competition for the team's 2020-21 season.
The full summary disposition report, as well as the full list of corrective actions and penalties imposed by Ohio State, can be found below.
