Columbus was a long one. The Buckeyes finished with an 8-22 record, including a 1-15 mark in Big Ten play—the school's worst conference record ever. The following year, however, O'Brien directed the Buckeyes to the 1999 Final Four in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ohio State set numerous school, conference and NCAA records during the 1998–99 season on its way to the school's ninth trip to the Final Four. The 2000 Buckeyes followed that effort by sharing the Big Ten championship with Michigan State. These accomplishments would later be vacated by the NCAA. The 2001 edition of Ohio State basketball was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten in preseason publications; however O'Brien managed to finish third in the regular season conference standings, winning 20 games and earning the school's 21st (of 24 total) NCAA tournament appearance, all this despite losing its top three scorers from the 1999–2000 season. The 2002 Buckeyes also were not picked to produce a successful season. Again, O'Brien surprised the critics by guiding the Buckeyes to a share of the 2002 Big Ten regular-season and tournament title, 20 victories and an unprecedented fourth-consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, a feat never before accomplished at Ohio State. Following OSU's 1999 Final Four run, O'Brien was honored as the 1999 Clair Bee Coach of the Year. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame presents the award. This honor was one of several including: the 1999 National Coach of the Year given by the Touchdown Club of Columbus; the 1999 National Co-Coach of the Year given by the National Association of Basketball Coaches; the 1999 Big Ten Coach of the Year as selected by the Big Ten media and the 1999 U.S. Basketball Writers Association District 5 Coach of the Year. He claimed his second Big Ten Coach of the Year award in 2001 when the league media gave him the honor for the second time in three seasons. The 2001 District 10 Coach of the Year Award, given by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, followed the Big Ten honors. Firing controversy Ohio State fired O'Brien on June 8, 2004, claiming the coach had admitted to athletic director Andy Geiger that he had provided a $6,000 loan to the mother of one-time recruit Aleksandar Radojević from Serbia after he had signed a national letter of intent in 1999. NCAA rules do not allow players to receive