James J. O'Brien (born April 9, 1950) is an American college basketball coach who has served as coach of St. Bonaventure University (1982–1986), Boston College (1986–1997), Ohio State University (1997–2004) and Emerson College, a Division III school in Boston (2011–2014). O'Brien was hired as Ohio State head coach on April 7, 1997 after the firing of previous coach Randy Ayers. O'Brien guided the Buckeye program to the 1999 Final Four, 2000 and 2002 Big Ten regular-season co-championships, the 2002 Big Ten tournament Championship, four 20-win seasons and a school-record four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1999–2002). 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. The Ohio Court of Claims determined that Ohio State breached its contract with O'Brien by terminating him and awarded him $2.4 million. However, O'Brien was initially given an NCAA "show-cause" order effectively banning him from coaching from 2006 to 2008, and only returned to coaching in 2011. Playing career 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. He was the recipient of the university's scholar-athlete award as a senior. 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. He still holds the school single-game record for assists with 18, vs. Le Moyne December 16, 1970. He scored 1,273 points, a total that ranks 14th on the school's all-time scoring list. He twice won all-East honors and was the New England Player of the Year as a senior. He was elected into the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1976, his first year of eligibility. He was named to two Boston College all-decade basketball teams (1960s and 1970s). 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. He played for Wilt Chamberlain at San Diego. Early coaching years