The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - NCAA investigators are snooping around campus, the Buckeyes are coming off a dreadful season and attendance at Value City Arena is on a downward spiral.

But Ohio State's vacant men's basketball coaching position is still considered a prize.

"It's a job you can get back to the top of the mountain quickly," ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said Wednesday.

Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien was fired June 8 after athletic director Andy Geiger said O'Brien admitted to giving $6,000 to recruit Aleksandar Radojevic in 1999.

Alabama coach Mark Gottfried was mentioned as a candidate Wednesday. Gottfried, 40, is a Crestline, Ohio, native who is fresh from guiding the Crimson Tide to a 20-13 record and a berth in the Elite Eight.

Asked if OSU officials had spoken to Gottfried, Geiger declined to answer. Athletic department spokesman Steve Snapp said later, "We have not offered the position to anybody."

Snapp was asked if Geiger had talked to Gottfried and said, "The answer would be no."

Said Vitale: "There's one guy for that job, man. If they want a buzz, man, and create some excitement for at least a five-year period, it would be an absolute win-win situation. His positives totally outweigh the negatives - I'd make the call to Robert Montgomery Knight."

Knight, a 1962 graduate of Ohio State, is coach at Texas Tech. He has a record of 832-323 over 37 years and needs 48 wins to pass North Carolina's Dean Smith as the winningest major-college coach.

• Another person has come forward saying he helped former Ohio State basketball player Boban Savovic with expenses and that then-assistant coach Paul Biancardi knew about it.

Michael Sierawski, 51, told the Columbus Dispatch that Biancardi "knew that Boban was being supported by somebody at all times."

Biancardi's name surfaced in a deposition taken in a civil lawsuit Kathleen Salyers filed last August seeking $510,000 in expenses and damages from two Ohio State boosters. Her lawsuit led to O'Brien's firing as coach.

Salyers contends Dan and Kim Roslovic reneged on an agreement to pay her $1,000 a month plus expenses to care for Savovic while he played for the Buckeyes. Salyers was the Roslovics' babysitter and housekeeper.

Biancardi has denied knowing of the arrangements to help Savovic, a member of the Buckeyes' 1998-99 Final Four team.

NFL: Cohen signed by Buccaneers

Cincinnati native Dustin Cohen was signed Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cohen, a linebacker, played the 2004 NFL Europe League season with the Frankfurt Galaxy, which lost World Bowl XII 30-24 to the Berlin Thunder on June 12. Cohen, who attended Miami, has played for Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Detroit in the NFL.

College football

OREGON: The Ducks' football program was placed on NCAA probation for two years for recruiting violations by an assistant coach. The Pac-10 school remains eligible for postseason play and does not lose any scholarships, NCAA spokeswoman Kay Hawes said.

Pro basketball

HARRICK UPDATE: Former UCLA and Georgia basketball coach Jim Harrick says reports that he has been hired to coach the American Basketball Association's Vancouver expansion team are premature.

Said Harrick: "We have signed nothing, agreed on nothing."

But Harrick said he expects to continue negotiations next month.

"We'll see how it goes, but it isn't finalized," he said.

Asked if his son, Jim Harrick Jr., would join him if he accepts the job in Vancouver, Harrick said, "It is all negotiable."

Harrick Jr. was fired and Harrick was forced to resign in 2003 following allegations of rules violations at Georgia. Harrick said he has received a bad rap in the NCAA probe at Georgia.

"I get sick of getting ripped all the time," he said.