As a result of the violation, all three programs were placed on four-year probation, and the university was fined $5,000, plus 3% of the fencing program’s budget and 1% of the women’s golf and basketball programs’ budgets. Additionally, the athletic administration self-imposed additional punishments, including playoff bans for all three teams and scholarship reductions for the 2020-21 season, as well as the revocation of victories won by ineligible players.
According to the report, former fencing head coach Vladimir Nazlymov, former women’s golf coach Therese Hession, and former women’s basketball associate head coach Patrick Klein violated head coach accountability and/or ethical conduct regulations by failing to cooperate fully with the inquiry.
The panel scheduled a hearing to decide whether to exempt the school’s compliance monitoring program, but ultimately found that no breach of failure to monitor occurred. “The panel appreciates that the school devotes enormous resources to its compliance program, which is much beyond those of comparable Division I institutions in many aspects,” the panel stated in a statement. “To be clear, committing resources alone does not satisfy the basic compliance standards… However, in this case, the resources and compliance program in place at Ohio State exceed the flaws found by the panel.”
The women’s basketball team’s 2017 and 2018 Big Ten regular season titles, 2018 Big Ten Tournament championship, 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournament appearances, 2019 NIT appearance, and 52 victories will all be forfeited. Meanwhile, the fencing program vacated their Midwest Fencing Conference championships in 2016, 2017, and 2018, as well as its NCAA runner-up performances in 2016 and 2017.
