Randy Ayers hopes that his new head coaching job begins in much better fashion than his previous one ended. The newly appointed 76ers head coach went 124-108 in eight seasons guiding Ohio State. The first four years he had winning seasons. The last four were losing ones.

He was finally dismissed following the 1996-97 season and joined the Sixers as their physical conditioning coach shortly after.

In 1994 the NCAA put Ohio State on one year of probation for rules infractions in "recruiting, extra benefits and eligibility legislation in the men's basketball and men's and women's track-and-field programs."

The basketball infractions came in the recruitment of Damon Flint, who was a junior at Cincinnati's Woodward High in 1991. Even though Flint's high school coach, Jim Leon, said in June 1994 that Ayers "didn't do anything directly" to trigger the NCAA investigation, which included 17 charges investigators made against Ohio State, Ayers took responsibility. Among the violations: Buckeyes assistant coaches paid Flint $60.

During yesterday's news conference to announce his hiring, Ayers talked in general terms about those final, frustrating seasons at Ohio State.