Of the 21 NCAA recruiting violations committed by Big Ten schools during the 2007-08 year, Ohio State committed more than half with 13.
An OSU administrator revealed the numbers Tuesday in a presentation to the university's Board of Trustees' Audit and Compliance Committee.
"I don't view it as a bad thing. If we suddenly had zero violations, I would have to ask myself what the coaches were hiding," said Doug Archie, OSU's associate athletics director for compliance and camps.
After the public portion of the meeting, Archie and the committee members went into a closed session.
OSU's coaches and athletes must adhere to NCAA, Big Ten and university ethics rules. If coaches or players realize they've committed a violation, they're expected to report it. Archie said OSU leads the nation in reporting its violations and that all of the school's violations are self-reported.
Archie told the committee that the rules are very complex and at times can be hard for coaches and athletes to track. He used the example of a coach sending a mass e-mail to potential recruits.
"If the coach accidentally includes a junior in that e-mail, then he's committed a violation," Archie said.
Archie explained that the recruitment violations are labeled as level I violations. He said the NCAA cares a great deal about recruiting violations and watches them closely to keep recruitment opportunities equal for all schools.
"Most violations are recruitment violations because recruitment is the real bloodline of our athletics," Archie said.
Level I violations must be reported directly to the NCAA, while level II violations are sent to the Big Ten, then on to the NCAA.
Universities in the Big Ten committed 194 violations in 2007-08. In addition to the 21 level I violations, the Big Ten had 164 level II violations, and nine that were violations of either Big Ten or university rules.
OSU committed 26 total violations for the 2007-08 year. Twenty-one of them were level I, 11 were level II and two were either Big Ten or violations of OSU's policies.
Under certain circumstances, a coach could get special permission to legally break an NCAA rule when recruiting. The coach must file a waiver with the NCAA. If the waiver is granted, then the coach will get one exemption to receive a recruiting advantage. OSU filed 78 such waivers for the 2007-08 year.
Zach Tuggle can be reached at tuggle.17@osu.edu.
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