THE SIDELINES : New Ohio State Coach Hires Aide

Les Fertig, an assistant coach at Army for the last nine years, has been hired as a full-time assistant to Ohio State’s new head basketball Coach Randy Ayers, a newspaper reported.

Neither Fertig nor Ayers would comment on the story published Sunday in the Columbus Dispatch. The newspaper, citing unidentified sources in the Ohio State athletic department, said Fertig will join the staff July 18.