COLUMBUS – The scandal-plagued football program at Ohio State University took another hit when it was announced here Monday that three key offensive players who were expected to play in this Saturday’s Big Ten game at Nebraska will be suspended for that contest.
OSU athletic director Gene Smith said offensive lineman Marcus Hall, wide receiver DeVier Posey and running back Dan Herron will all sit out the Nebraska game for what the NCAA said was “an employment violation” where the trio received excessive pay that was not commensurate with the time worked at summer jobs provided by an OSU booster.
Hall had been a starter for the first five games of this season for the 3-2 Buckeyes. Posey and Herron were part of a group of five players originally suspended for the first five games of 2011 over their roles in selling or trading memorabilia and autographed football equipment for cash and discounts on tattoos. That suspension was completed with them sitting out last Saturday’s home loss to Michigan State and they were expected to return to the field at Nebraska.
“The violation involves excessive compensation, regarding hours worked and dollars paid,” Smith said while addressing the issue at a news conference at Value City Arena.
The suspended players were part of a large group of Buckeyes who were employed by Cleveland area booster Bobby DiGeronimo. Smith said DiGeronimo has since been formally “disassociated with the program” and supplied copies of a Sept. 20 letter to DiGeronimo informing him of the break.
DiGeronimo was the same booster involved with paying three other Ohio State players -- running back Jordan Hall, and defensive backs Corey Brown and Travis Howard – to appear at a charity event earlier this year. That resulted in the three serving a two-game suspension to start the current season.
Despite the additional suspensions, Smith insisted that theOhio State program does not deserve a “failure to monitor” or “lack of institutional control” declaration from the NCAA.
“Individual decisions were made that went off the reservation, and we have to find a way to curtail those,” Smith said.
First Published October 3, 2011, 3:38 p.m.