Robert Gary-Busted

busthemnuts wrote:

Dispatch reports this AM that he is under police investigation for misuse of funds and that is the reason for the termination form OSU.

link?

I just googled Columbus Dispatch and went to the Sports Section. That seems pretty OBVIOUS, Mr. Not so much

http://www.dispatch.com/content/sections/sports/index.html

"The records show that university police are still conducting a criminal investigation of Gary, which stems from a separate investigation that the athletic department initiated during the 2012 winter quarter to look into his expense accounts." (emphasis mine)

That is what was in the public record...I am sure there is more to the story. AD Smith is still covering up problems in the athletic department

Wow. This is a huge deal. There is a crazy pattern of unethical behavior surrounding him. Surprised furman would hire him

buckeye nutter wrote:

That is what was in the public record...I am sure there is more to the story. AD Smith is still covering up problems in the athletic department

Smith is also creating problems in the athletic department.

Espn wrote:

AD Smith and alumni association CEO Archie Griffin, a former star running back for the Buckeyes, recorded a personalized video for football recruit Ezekiel Elliott for his official visit to Ohio State on March 31. Recruiting videos are prohibited by the NCAA. Elliott verbally committed to Ohio State as part of the 2013 recruiting class.

I was AMAZED when i read that yesterday. Yes, every school violates some dumb NCAA rule but not normally intentionally. Everyone knows you can't make a recruiting video and here is a case where the AD is making one?

To me, NCAA violations are like doping. People need to go after INTENT. Making a recruiting video seems to me to be intentional cheating wish should be treated harshly.

I was going to start a thread on that alone before I even knew about this Gary stuff.

I'll post my Gary related thoughts in a separate post so everyone will appreciate their brilliance.

Wow Wow Wow!!! So many thoughts. Where to begin?

1. Hasn't the Duke Lacrosse case and others taught us not to judge until all the facts are in? Let's what until all of the info is in before we judge.

2. That being said, I can think of a few possibilities.

One - Gary did something bad and is being nailed.

Two - This could be a case of where an AD got really pissed when he found out that his cross country coach was apparently under contract with another school for the whole year. I mean seriously, if you aren't told about that ahead of time, then it doesn't get any worse than that. So you are pissed and then you think, "Ok I'll get you."

I mean it's a common practice for coaches to keep some meet entry fees and what not in a little box so they can pay for things out of that instead of submitting a receipt for $3 for everything.

I know the old PSU coach Harry Groves was so insulted that the comptroller there was wondering if he was stealing that he ended up not charging for meets. For a long time, PSU meets were free for opposing teams.

So let's wait until more comes out and see if this is something big or something "secondary."

I mean this guy SMith totally dismissed the secondary violations he himself made yesterday.

I find this fascinating since deceit and stuff like this seems to follow Rita Molis Gary. Can't be just a coincidence can it?

rojo wrote:

This could be a case of where an AD got really pissed when he found out that his cross country coach was apparently under contract with another school for the whole year.

So you are pissed and then you think, "Ok I'll get you."

This could be exactly what happened, and no fault of Gary's.

Indeed why wasn't this brought up while he was still there, and not after he left, where what the school does has nothing to do with him.

rojo wrote:

To me, NCAA violations are like doping. People need to go after INTENT.

I understand your point but, while intent may be key *for you*, both NCAA violations and doping offenses are more frequently judged on strict liability: if you did it, even if not intentionally, then you get smacked.

Everyone needs to read the article:http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stories/2012/05/19/gary-fired-over-financial-reports-records-show.htmlI finally did and this is looking pretty serious but again we shouldn't be judging until the facts are known. A few key quotes from the article.

Ohio State statement says:

“The university terminated its men’s track coach after it discovered financial reporting irregularities. The Department of Athletics immediately placed the coach on leave when it discovered these major violations of policy, and later determined that termination was appropriate. University police are still investigating the matter and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment further in light of this ongoing investigation.”

Also we're not talking about $50 or $100.

Columbus Dispatch wrote:

Ohio State acknowledged in an April 11 letter to Gary’s attorney, Spencer Youell, that the university had accepted a check for $6,235.35 from Gary without his admission of any wrongful conduct or activities but that the “criminal investigation is ongoing and independent of this employment matter.”[/quote]

Now I'll admit that $6,235.35 sounds like a lot but if we are talking about over 10 years, that's next to nothing. If $100 of unattached entry fees per home meet aren't properly accounted for, that's easily thousands of dollars over years.

From what I've heard the money was not coming from entrance fees but rather from per diem when the athletes are on the road. Let's say the school affords $20 for dinner but he is only giving $19. Multiply that $1 by 20 athletes times 2 dinners a trip times a bunch of trips per year and that adds up quick.

Now that I have given it some thought here is another possibility that could happen. although until we get clarification we will not know. Lets say that he brought his wife/child on trips and that is not allowed by OSU policy. Plane tickets, food, etc would add up. Also, was he bringing some of his pro athletes to meets and writing it off on OSU. Most of us probably wouldn't think a thing about it, but that could add up. The reason that it makes me wonder is that he had to pay back the $6200 which leads me to believe it was personal expenditures which were not allowed.

Also, I have learned that compliance folks from OSU were calling schools where OSU competed asking questions about who competed for OSU and whether they were OSU eligible or red-shirts. Again that would make some sense.

I hope they publish what really happened so we will know whether its just minor stuff that added up or more serious stuff.

What will Furman do now?

Jasmin wrote:

From what I've heard the money was not coming from entrance fees but rather from per diem when the athletes are on the road. Let's say the school affords $20 for dinner but he is only giving $19. Multiply that $1 by 20 athletes times 2 dinners a trip times a bunch of trips per year and that adds up quick.

You don't think most athletes from OSU would be a little suspicious being given $19?

I would. Or, the coach asked for a reciept from all the athletes after a meal with instructions to keep it under 20 bucks per athlete.

Most meals are like 10-15 bucks on the road so make that 4-5 instead of 1. Maybe he was taking a whole lot more than it appears OR maybe the AD is just being a b*tch. Who knows until the facts are out.

I'd be interested in what OSU athletes have to say about this.

When I was coaching, athletes came into my office and signed for their meal money for the trip, which could be as little as $10 for a short half day trip, up to $100 or more for a long trip. They never looked at what they were signing; they just signed and took their money. I could have easily just left it blank before they signed and then listed it as $50 instead of $40 and pocketed $10 from each athlete. A basketball coach at another school was doing exactly that and eventually got caught.

So it can happen and I guarantee that several coaches do this that have no ethics.

Robert was well known for his "assistant coaches" who were professionally sponsored (Saucony, Reebok) being provided free travel to meets to compete

Travel is usually covered by a sponser or meet director depending on the meet. C'mon man.

I feel bad for Robert in this whole thing...It would interesting to really know what all went on...I think AD Smith knew of the Gary's signing a contract in the fall and wanted to keep it a secret and then someone else in the university let the cat out of the bag. I think another problem here was that Rita wanted the OSU woman job from day one of her hock up with Robert and when Dennis re-upped her contract last year—the shit hit the fan in the Gary’s household and she wanted to get back in coaching at any cost…

University accounting people are unbelievably demanding with regard to expenses, far beyond anything reasonable, and so if there is a reason to show cause for termination (e.g. already had a contract elsewhere), then they very often look for some sort of systematic variation from some obscure university acc'ting procedure for that cause. You wouldn't believe how often our expense reports are returned for the most ridiculous reasons, e.g. they need the conference program to see if there was a meal provided, so as to reduce your per diem even if you weren't getting a per diem (because funds are very tight for us), or the receipt that the hotel gave you isn't the type they wanted, or because the state will not pay for any meals at all, even for university guests, within the state, and on and on.