December 10, 2012

Ohio State's Sports Program Aims to Play It Straight

After a scandal, the Buckeyes supersized their rules-enforcement staff. Will that work?

At Ohio State, Sports Plays It Straight 1

Leonardo Carrizo for The Chronicle

Athletics officials monitor game day, sometimes with binoculars, from the "command post" in Ohio Stadium.

By Brad Wolverton

Columbus, Ohio

As captain of Ohio State University's basketball team in 1999, Jason Singleton helped lead the Buckeyes to the Final Four. Now he has a ninth-floor office in the athletic department, where, alongside photos from his storied college years, he keeps a pair of binoculars to watch over the university's vast sports complex.

Since graduating, Mr. Singleton has held an unusual mix of jobs: kindergarten teacher, money-laundering sleuth, NCAA tough guy. This past summer he returned to Columbus