Two days after Ohio State starting quarterback J.T. Barrett was suspended for a game for an OVI citation, Urban Meyer announced that Barrett had also "forfeited a scholarship for a term. But he can earn it back."
Urban Meyer says Ohio State taking away J.T. Barrett’s scholarship, but it’s a little complicated
The punishment has apparently gone beyond a one-game suspension.
Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
This will apparently apply to Barrett’s discretionary “summer” semester. The summer semester is a bit different in that it’s not part of the normal school year, but players who stay for the summer get classes paid for and stipends for rent. Ohio State can’t simply take a scholarship, according to a spokesman:
We cannot take the scholarship. When coach referenced taking scholarship he was referencing summer aid, which is discretionary. So J.T. will lose his summer aid next year. He lives off campus so he would not receive a scholarship aid check that he typically would use to cover rent and food, and he would be required to pay his own tuition and books.
This is not entirely unprecedented. Buckeyes Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort lost their scholarships for a semester in 2012 after being arrested for evading police. But in that instance, the school announced that the players “have lost their scholarships for the summer, will pay their own way for summer school and will have a chance to return to the football team, and to their scholarships, after the summer session.”
Barrett’s case appears to be a bit different, since the scholarship isn’t taken away. But if Barrett wants to be in Columbus and attend class for the all-but-mandatory, though technically discretionary, summer session, he has to pay for it.
It is also unclear how Barrett can “earn back” his summer session money. If he does earn it back, he won’t have to pay anything out of pocket.
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