COLUMBUS, Ohio - Former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett accused coach Jim Tressel, his staff and school boosters of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars, and thousands of dollars, including for bogus summer jobs. The school immediately denied the claims Tuesday.

Most of Clarett’s charges, made in an interview with ESPN The Magazine, were addressed as part of an NCAA probe that found the running back lied to investigators, leading to his suspension from the team he helped win the 2002 national title.

Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger was not surprised by the accusations, saying Clarett had vowed to try to hurt the program.

FREE VIDEO Circling the wagons Nov. 10: Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, athletic director Andy Geiger deny Maurice Clarett's allegations.

“In moments of frustration during the investigation, (Maurice) might say something like, ‘I can blow this whole program up,’ or something like that, and so we would then say, ‘OK, blow it up. Tell us what you know,”’ Geiger said.

Other former Buckeyes told ESPN they also received illegal perks from the school. Marco Cooper, a linebacker suspended after two drug-possession arrests, said that whenever he wanted a car he would go to a local Dodge dealer, get the keys to it and return the automobile whenever he wanted.

Cooper also told ESPN that players use signed helmets and footballs to obtain cars and clothes in Columbus. "It starts at the No. 1 locker and goes all the way around the room," he told ESPN. "You don't even know who you're signing for."

Cooper also told ESPN that a prominent booster's son gave Cooper and his teammate/roomate "at least $2,000 worth of nice tables and couches . . . he gave us furniture all the time."

Cooper told ESPN that, as Clarett alleges, he was provided a bogus landscaping job by Tressel's staff. Cooper said that received $10-$12 per hour and listed himself as having worked 30 hours per week, even though "I never worked 30 hours."

He adds that he received at least $2,600 in cash and never filed paperwork or went through the compliance office. He knows at least eight teammates who did the same. Crosby also says he worked bogus jobs.

Former cornerback Curtis Crosby told ESPN in December that the booster's son would take five to 10 teammates out to eat and pay the tab. Cro sby said Tressel's staff also provided him with phony jobs at which he was paid for not working or even showing up.

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However, former Ohio State cornerback Richard McNutt — now a defensive backs coach at D-III Washington & Jefferson — disputed Cooper's allegations. "I can only speak for myself. All I know is I worked," McNutt told ESPN about his own landscaping job.

Former star wide receiver Chris Vance told ESPN he didn't witness improper benefits but said he believes Clarett. "I don't think he's lying. If he feels it's right to speak out, then I'm behind him 100 percent."

After being suspended by Ohio State and the NCAA for the 2003 season, Clarett went to court to challenge the NFL’s rule preventing players from entering the draft less than three years after graduating high school. He won initial federal court ruling but lost several appeals and was kept out of the draft.

Friends and family members say Clarett has been working out with a personal trainer in preparation for the 2005 NFL draft. He has not spoken publicly in months.

“I have had a chance to read the article, and the allegations as they were mentioned are, simply, untrue. Period,” Tressel said.

According to the magazine, Clarett said Tressel set him up with a loaner car.

Geiger said Tressel did try to help Clarett buy a car through the dealership that leases cars to several Ohio State coaches and administrators. But Clarett and his mother did not meet with the dealer to make arrangements to buy the car, and the dealership came to Columbus several days later to repossess it.

Geiger said Tressel’s actions did not break NCAA rules, adding that the coach put other players in touch with the dealership, too.

Clarett also said members of Tressel’s staff introduced him to boosters who slipped him thousands of dollars in cash — the better he played, the more he would receive.

“When you’d leave, (the booster) sets you straight,” Clarett told the magazine. “They say, ’You got any money in your pocket?’ They make sure your money’s straight.”

Clarett said Tressel’s brother Dick, a member of Ohio State’s coaching staff, arranged to get Clarett a job working for a landscaper. Clarett said he was paid even though he did not show up for work. The player also alleged that the football staff arranged an academic adviser who set him up with professors who would pass him even if he skipped class.

Former Ohio State linebacker Marco Cooper also told the magazine he had bogus landscaping jobs, received furniture from a booster and borrowed cars from Columbus dealerships in exchange for signed OSU memorabilia.

Geiger said many of the claims were found to be baseless in investigations by the NCAA and the university. He pointed out that Cooper was kicked off the team for drug possession.

Clarett told the magazine he took “the fall” for Tressel and Ohio State when meeting with the NCAA investigators but was subsequently “blackballed” when he tried to return to school.

Geiger expressed faith in the Ohio State coaches, compliance officers and academic counselors.

“We don’t duck. We’re not afraid of what’s coming. We’re not afraid of what’s here,” Geiger said.

Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday at Clarett’s mother’s house in northeast Ohio and with his attorney.

In the article, Clarett says his main reason for speaking with the magazine was to “clear his name” with NFL owners and general managers.

Thom McDaniels, Clarett’s high school coach in Warren, said Clarett will only hurt himself by making the accusations.

“I don’t know how his coming forth with these comments helps him with his stock in the NFL. I think behaving that way only hurts his reputation and his marketability,” McDaniels said. “That is not honorable behavior. At this point, who knows if it’s fact or fabrication.”