Ohio State later had to vacate all wins from 1999 to 2002, remove all references to team accomplishments for those years, and pay back all tournament money due to rules violations during O'Brien's tenure.

On June 8, 2004, then-Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger fired O'Brien for alleged NCAA rules violations.

A high school honorable mention All-American at St. Francis Prep in Brooklyn, O'Brien went on to attend and then graduate from Boston College in 1971 with a degree in marketing.

[citation needed] O'Brien was a three-year Boston College letterman (1968–71) while playing for Bob Cousy and Chuck Daly and he was team captain in 1970–71.

Upon graduation, he was selected by the Buffalo Braves (today the Los Angeles Clippers) in the fourth round of the 1971 NBA draft, but he instead played professionally for the Pittsburgh Condors (1971), the Kentucky Colonels (1972–73) and the San Diego Conquistadors (1974–75) in the American Basketball Association.

[citation needed] In 1994, O'Brien led Boston College to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament and scored back-to-back wins over Indiana and North Carolina.

Academics were a strong priority throughout O'Brien's coaching career – in his first 10 years at Boston College, all 25 players who completed their eligibility also earned their degrees.

[citation needed] During his final season at Boston College, O'Brien led the team to the 1997 Big East regular-season and tournament titles.

[citation needed] O'Brien subsequently sued Boston College for slander and breach of contract, suggesting racial bias may have played a role in why one of his recruits was denied admission.

Ohio State fired O'Brien on June 8, 2004, claiming the coach had admitted to athletic director Andy Geiger that he had provided a $6,000 loan to the mother of one-time recruit Aleksandar Radojević from Serbia after he had signed a national letter of intent in 1999.

The payment came to light when Kathleen Salyers, a nanny from the Columbus suburb of Gahanna, sued Ohio State boosters Dan and Kim Roslovic.

Salyers claimed the Roslovics reneged on an agreement to pay her $1,000 per month plus expenses to care for Ohio State forward Boban Savovic.

O'Brien argued his loan did not violate NCAA bylaws because he knew Radojevic already had lost his amateur status by playing for money overseas.

At trial, Geiger and NCAA lead investigator Steve Duffin both testified that O'Brien made the loan for humanitarian reasons, not as an inducement to get Radojevic to sign with Ohio State.

[8][9] On March 10, 2006, the NCAA gave Ohio State three years' probation and ordered it to pay back all tournament money earned from 1999 to 2002 when Boban Savovic was on the Buckeyes' roster.