Saturday, July 12

Buckeyes star reportedly allowed to take oral exams

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ESPN.com news services


NEW YORK -- Ohio State star Maurice Clarett received assistance to pass a class before the Fiesta Bowl, a university professor told The New York Times for Sunday's editions.

The running back passed African-American and African Studies 101 by taking two oral exams, Paulette Pierce, an associate professor, told the newspaper. She said she worked directly with Clarett and administered the exams after he walked out of the course's midterm exam during the fall semester.

It wasn't clear whether Clarett received special consideration, or whether university or NCAA rules were broken. Clarett, a freshman standout on the Buckeyes' national championship team, did not respond to the newspaper's requests for an interview.

Pierce also said several football players told her that tutors occasionally wrote their papers, but she had no direct proof.

"We are shocked and dismayed by the allegations," university president Karen Holbrook and athletic director Andy Geiger said in a statement Saturday night. "We have a rigorous system of checks and balances in place to prevent the kind of misconduct that is charged."

Holbrook and Geiger called a news conference for Sunday to answer questions about the allegations.

NCAA spokesman Jeff Howard declined comment Saturday.

Kenneth Goings, chairman of the Department of African-American and African studies, told the newspaper that Pierce had the discretion to decide whether to give oral exams.

Despite numerous injuries, Clarett set Ohio State freshman records with 1,237 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns last season as the Buckeyes beat Miami 31-24 in double-overtime for the national title.

Pierce told the Times that Clarett left his midterm exam in her course without completing it.

"He looked at it and didn't know a thing," she told the newspaper.

The newspaper reported that Pierce began working with Clarett in hopes of motivating him. She said he needed a lot of attention.

"I don't think, at one point in the class, he was trying," she told the Times. "When I started working more closely with Maurice, and paying more attention to him, he started to learn more."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

from what i understand there, it is allowed for a student to take oral exams at the discretion of whoever approved clarretts. i think they scheduled a press conference today to clear things up.

They're looking into Clarett's financial records now... oh no, did Jimmy go out and buy himself a National Championship? I sure hope not but this story is still way too early to decide on.

Why in the hell would a football player tell someone that tutors wrote their papers for them, are they stupid or what.

i hope that they dont get anything against winning the championship like it being taken away!!

they are looking at some of clarretts financial dealings with lebron james, who is a personal friend of his. apparently lebron gave him some money but i dont see what is wrong with that. a friend lending another some money.

russel most people dont see it wrong, but when is a friend a true friend, it is illegal because the lines are too shady to determine. of course lebron and mo grew up close to eachother, are the same age, and are bound to be buds, but thats besides the fact. for example, was ed martin (booster who paid fab 5) really chris webber's friend? as i hear, this CANT affect the national title fans as the exam was affected on the grading period AFTER the fiesta bowl. so all those miami fans who wanna come on here and cry foul and cheaters have no arguement. also, it is reported that in the syllabus at the beginning of the class, EACH STUDENT, not only athletes had the chance to do this, no just mo. i would say the exam is a non issue and will blow over, the financial part is the part really in concern my fellow buckeye fans, whenever the NCAA is gonna look into financial dealings they usually dont come up empty.

Redmania - The exam in question was during fall semester...in which the final exam was administered in December, before the Fiesta Bowl...I don't think anything will occur overthe oral exam though....the problem lies with tutors writing papers for football players...that is the issue currently under investigation.....as well as the borrowing of money between LeBron and Mo....

The prof has later backtracked claim now... either she's just retarded or someone hushed her up.

even if he had failed the exam which was during the fall semester, he would not have become ineligible until the next semester. that semester started a few days after the fiesta bowl. obviously they have to be talking about a large sum of money but i still dont see the problem. in the case with michigan, there was more of a connection between the lender and players. in this case there was no athletic connection between the two people (other than the fact they are both stars before turning pro). when lebrons mom bought the hummer she got in trouble because a bank awarded the loan on athletic potential. in this case it was probably just lebron giving clarrett a little money to be payed back in the future. the agreement could have been for clarrett to pay it back with whatever job he happened to get after graduating. i dont see how he can get into trouble without documents that discuss his athletic future. of course not much has come out about this story so they may have that.

i guess if he gets money from lebron it isnt necessarily illegal, they will look into it as long as it doesnt hold future promises to an agent or through an agent, BTW, the exam WOULDNT have affected the game

By NCAA rules, if he would have simply failed the exam, then you guys are right...it would not have affected the Fiesta Bowl. But if he would have been found to have received help in passing the exam, then it would have affected the game. He would have been deemed ineligible for that game and therefore, OSU would have had to forfeit the National Title because they used an ineligible player...

Everything is fine, all of us in Columbus have all the info. Also if you've watched any ESPN, PTI, Around the Horn etc...it's all blown up big time. EVERY student has the ability to take an oral exam, I once had a histiry class that I missed for 2 months due to illness and when I came back a teacher let me give her an oral exam based on what I had read. It's not uncommon at all. Everything is fine at OSU and Clarett is always just a beacon for the media to talk about. Not a big deal, trust me I read about 200 articles on the Buckeyes everyday in the Columbus paper

big name colleges are attractive b/c of the diversity and popularity of sports, which often serve as the backbone of their public recognition.

For example, besides Cornhuskers football team, what does Nebraska really have to offer for the colllege?

Everyone cheats

My sister went to UCLA, took history class with a basketball athlete (who shall remain un-named).... he attended class, went to sleep, and woke up when class was over. Who took notes? A note taker was paid to do so

cheating goes on everyone