OSU AD Says NCAA Had Role In Declaring P Andy Oliver Ineligible

By Liz Mullen, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

NCAA CLAIMS HOLDER'S LETTER UNTRUE: NCAA Dir of Public & Media Relations Erik Christianson when asked if the facts in Holder’s letter were true said in an e-mail, “No,” but he would not provide an account of the true facts. “This is not a matter of shifting blame. This was a joint investigation, not one solely initiated by the NCAA. Further, according to longstanding rules, the institution -- not the NCAA -- must withhold a student-athlete from all competition when it determines a student-athlete is ineligible for competition,” Christianson wrote. “As of today, the institution has not applied for reinstatement of the student-athlete’s eligibility.” An Erie County, Ohio, judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA reinstating Oliver’s eligibility pending a hearing early next month. Oliver’s attorney, Richard Johnson, said Holder’s letter shows “the press release from the NCAA was materially untrue and the NCAA did exactly what we allege it did. It initiated the investigation. It controlled it. It made a finding of fact." He added that the statement from the NCAA that Oliver should exhaust his administrative remedies through the reinstatement process was "hypocritical" because only the university, and not the pitcher, himself, could apply for his reinstatement. “The NCAA's reinstatement staff has already determined -- without the process ever even having been initiated -- that, if OSU filed for reinstatement, it would declare my client to be permanently ineligible,” Johnson said. “Essentially, the NCAA's reinstatement staff has tried, convicted, and hung my client in absentia.”

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