Ohio State Fires O’Brien for Recruiting Violation

Ohio State fired basketball coach Jim O’Brien on Tuesday after he admitted giving a recruit $6,000 five years ago.

Athletic Director Andy Geiger said that he offered O’Brien the opportunity to resign but the coach refused to step down.

In a statement released through his attorney, O’Brien did not dispute that he helped potential recruit Aleksandar Radojevic.

“I am advised that my firing is because I was asked to and tried to give assistance to a young man’s family who was in dire financial straits,” said O’Brien, who was 133-88 in seven seasons as Ohio State’s coach. “The assistance in no way influenced the young man in his decision to attend OSU and, indeed, the young man did not enroll at OSU.”

Radojevic, a 7-foot-3 center from Serbia and Montenegro, was recruited and signed by O’Brien. Before he ever played for Ohio State, however, the NCAA ruled he was ineligible for accepting $13,000 from a professional team in Europe.

Ohio State learned of O’Brien’s payment to Radojevic through a lawsuit against O’Brien by a woman who said she provided housing, meals and clothes for another Ohio State recruit from the same war-torn area, Slobodan Savovic.

He played four years with the Buckeyes, including the team that made the 1999 Final Four under O’Brien.

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Florida State women’s basketball player Ronalda Pierce, a 6-foot-5 center, died early Tuesday, apparently from an aneurysm that may have resulted from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disease that typically affects tall people.... Arizona football recruit McCollins Umeh, 18, died after collapsing during a voluntary workout, Athletic Director Jim Livengood said.

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The men’s basketball program at Kentucky Wesleyan, an eight-time national champion in Division II, was put on one-year probation by the Great Lakes Conference because of eligibility violations.

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Pat Tillman, who starred at Arizona State and with the Arizona Cardinals before becoming the first NFL player to die in combat since the Vietnam War, received another honor when the Pacific 10 Conference renamed its defensive player of the year award after him.

Tennis

The Wimbledon women’s field was hit with its second blow in two days with the withdrawal of No. 1-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium, who continues to recover from a lingering virus. Henin-Hardenne, who looked weakened in her second-round loss at the French Open in May, will join countrywoman Kim Clijsters on the sideline for Wimbledon.

Clijsters pulled out of Wimbledon on Monday, needing left-wrist surgery, and could also be forced to sit out the U.S. Open.

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Andre Agassi entered the Mercedes-Benz Cup, July 12-18, at UCLA, according to tournament organizers.

Agassi, a first-round loser at the French Open, was beaten in his opening match Tuesday at the Queen’s Club tournament in London by a player ranked 60th and making his debut in a grass-court event.

Agassi lost, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) to Russia’s Igor Andreev, then failed to show at a news conference.

This was the first time since August 1997 that Agassi, 34, had lost three straight opening-round matches.

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Top-ranked Roger Federer ran his winning streak on grass to 13 matches with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Thomas Johansson in the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany.

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Third-seeded Maria Sharapova reached the third round of the DFS Classic at Birmingham, England, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over American Jamea Jackson.

Track and Field

Stacy Dragila broke the world outdoor record in the women’s pole vault and Kenenisa Bekele set a world mark in the men’s 10,000-meter race at an IAAF meet at Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Dragila cleared 15 feet 10 inches on her third attempt, beating by a quarter-inch the record set by Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia.

Bekele, of Ethiopia, finished in 26 minutes 20.31 seconds, breaking countryman Haile Gebrselassie’s record of 26:22.75 set in 1998.

Miscellany

Nick Faldo will play in his 17th consecutive U.S. Open after making a birdie on the final hole at a sectional qualifier to earn one of three spots.

Faldo finished at five-under-par 139 in the 36-hole qualifier at Lake Nona Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

Camilo Villegas and Tripp Isenhour also finished at five under to earn the other two spots.

Others securing spots at other qualifying tournaments included former British Open runner-up Thomas Levet, Scott Weatherly and Scott Hend.

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Troy Dumais erased an early deficit to lead the men’s three-meter springboard after the semifinals in the Olympic diving trials at St. Peters, Mo.

Dumais totaled 678.03 points, extending his lead late in the semifinals. Phillip Jones slipped to second with 665.31 points. Justin Wilcock was third with 664.38 points.

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Bill Parcells won’t be fined by the NFL for calling surprise plays used in practice “Jap plays,” a remark for which he later apologized.