Embattled Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor will end his Buckeyes football career amid allegations of improper benefits, according to The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.
Pryor’s lawyer, Larry James, said in a telephone interview with the newspaper that his client won’t return
"In the best interest of my team, I have decided to forgo my senior year of football at the Ohio State University," James told the newspaper, reading a statement on behalf of Pryor.
James said Pryor had mulled over his options for several days before deciding Tuesday evening. He added that Pryor is unsure if he will enter the NFL’s supplemental draft and said he could stay at Ohio State and finish his senior year as a student.
"We've talked about the emotional roller coaster that he is going through," James told the newspaper, "and even if he was cleared 100 percent it was going to be difficult. He'll take the next couple days to collect his thoughts. Right now, when you reach closure, it's very emotional."
If he had returned, Pryor would have been suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season for trading personal memorabilia for money and free tattoos.
“We understand Terrelle’s decision and wish him well in this next phase of his life," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in a statement. "We hope he returns to The Ohio State University one day to finish his degree.”
Earlier Tuesday, it was reported that former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel re-exchanged 77 text messages over a five-month period with Ted Sarniak, a Pennsylvania businessman and mentor for Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The newspaper received a log of more than 34,000 calls and texts from the office and cell phones of Tressel and athletic director Gene Smith between March 2010 and April 2011. University officials redacted about a sixth of the exchanges because the calls were deemed personal.
Pryor is the focal point of an NCAA investigation into several Ohio State players who allegedly received improper benefits. The five-month scandal apparently reached a crescendo on Memorial Day when Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel tendered his resignation afteralleged cover-up of his players’ NCAA violations.
