After leading a program for a solid 12 years, you’d think OSU women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff had seen it all, right?

But probably the most uncomfortable moment of his career came back in May. On May 6, after failing multiple field sobriety tests, McGuff was arrested. And since this all happened after the spring semester, McGuff had the awkward task of calling each player individually to explain the situation. 

He later admitted that those calls were probably the “hardest part” of the whole ordeal. He described having to break the news to his players as emotionally tough, but for the other aspects, he felt more prepared. At the time, he pleaded not guilty to the initial operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI) charge that Dublin police filed, per reports. 

He addressed the whole mess during a news conference in August. “Really a horrible situation of which I take very seriously,” McGuff said. “To bring negativity to the university and the people involved in our program was a really, really terrible situation for me.” 

Fast forward a few months, and the coach learned his fate. On Tuesday morning, McGuff pleaded guilty through his lawyer, Richard Piatt. But the guilty plea was for a lesser charge than the initial OVI. Court documents show he entered a guilty plea for one misdemeanor charge of “physical control.”

For this, McGuff will face a 180-day license suspension and has been ordered to pay a $565 fine by Franklin County Municipal Court. He’ll still have occupational driving privileges during the suspension, though. Piatt mentioned that McGuff would take care of all his court costs and fines by December 23. 

But what was the exact story behind the arrest?

What really happened the night OSU Women’s Basketball coach was arrested

It all started when Dublin police got a call about a vehicle driving recklessly, hitting multiple curbs and even rolling through someone’s lawn shortly before 8 p.m. on May 6, according to the arrest report. Luckily, nobody was physically hurt. When officers arrived, they found Coach Kevin McGuff’s Toyota Sequoia parked partially off his driveway and onto the lawn.

McGuff initially told police he was “coming from here to here” and struggled to open the driver’s door or window for over two minutes. When asked again about where he’d been that night, he said he’d eaten dinner at J. Liu, but insisted he hadn’t had anything to drink. Plus, he told officers he hadn’t taken (nor been prescribed) any medications. All of this has been verified through Dublin police body camera footage.

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Following the incident, Ohio State suspended McGuff for two weeks as part of its internal disciplinary process. Meanwhile, he was originally scheduled for a pretrial hearing on August 12, but that hearing was pushed back to October 7. Moreover, the case was initially in Dublin Mayor’s Court until it was transferred to the Franklin County system on November 12.

As for the coaching, he returned after the suspension. On addressing doubts, McGuff said, “Everyone’s allowed to have their opinion, and I understand that, but I can tell you that I’ve had a great summer, and our team has had a great summer. And I think, collectively, we’re all in a good place.”

He was right. The Buckeyes are thriving. The OSU women’s basketball team is 11-1, currently ranked No. 19, and recently crushed Western Michigan 95-47 on Monday.