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Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett levies some serious accusation at coach Jim Tressel.
Maurice Clarett accused Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and his staff of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars, and money for bogus summer jobs. The school immediately denied the claims Tuesday.
Most of Clarett's allegations, in an article in ESPN The Magazine, were covered as part of an NCAA probe that found he lied to investigators. Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger was not surprised by the accusations, saying Clarett had vowed to try to hurt the program.
"In moments of frustration during the investigation, he might say, 'I can blow the whole program up,' and we'd say, 'OK, blow it up,"' Geiger said.
Clarett's claims are his first public comments in months after shunning reporters during workouts to prepare for the spring NFL draft. He lost a lawsuit earlier this year challenging the league's eligibility rule. A message seeking comment was left Tuesday at Clarett's mother's house in northeast Ohio.
According to the magazine article, Clarett said Tressel arranged the loaner cars and Tressel's brother found him landscaping jobs that he was paid for but didn't work.
Clarett also said the football staff arranged an academic adviser who set him up with professors who would pass him even if he skipped class and introduced him to boosters who gave him cash.
Investigations by the NCAA and the university have also cleared the school of the types of wrongdoing Clarett alleged, Geiger said.
Source: AP