Columbus, OH – Three Ohio State football players are facing indefinite suspensions for employment violations involving "hours worked and dollars paid," athletic director Gene Smith said Monday.
Wide receiver DeVier Posey, running back Daniel Herron and offensive lineman Marcus Hall will not play in Saturday's game at No. 14 Nebraska and could be suspended even longer after being overpaid for work they performed.
Ohio State submitted a request to have each player reinstated, but doesn't expect that will happen.
"The dollar amounts for each (player) determines the penalty that will ultimately be leveled by the NCAA," Smith said. "However, we do know that for this game they will have to sit."
Posey and Herron were among five Buckeyes players suspended for the first five games this season following a memorabilia scandal involving the owner of a local tattoo parlor.
The scandal led to the resignation of longtime Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel and caused quarterback Terrelle Pryor to leave college for the NFL rather than serve his suspension.
Two other players involved -- offensive lineman Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas -- are expected back for the Nebraska game, but Posey and Herron will have to sit at least one more time.
Linebacker Etienne Sabino and defensive end Melvin Fellows also received money for work they didn't do, but Fellows is out on a medical hardship and Sabino is available for the Nebraska game because he has already been reinstated by the NCAA.
Three other Buckeyes players -- running back Jordan Hall and defensive backs Corey Brown and Travis Howard -- were suspended for the first two games this season for accepting $200 in impermissible benefits at a charity event.
They were reinstated after two games under the condition they repay $200 to the charity, but all the violations have left an impression that Ohio State has a systematic compliance problem.
Smith strongly denied that observation in a Monday afternoon press conference, saying the violations were a case of "individual decisions by individual people."
"At the end of the day, individual decisions were made that went off the reservation," Smith said. "We have to find a way to curtail those."
Ohio State booster Robert DiGeronimo, who employed the players and was also involved in the charity scandal, was recently disassociated by the university.
