COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An appeals court ruled Thursday that Ohio State must pay former men's head basketball coach Jim O'Brien more than $2 million in damages he was awarded last year.

O'Brien (pictured, right) was fired as head coach in June 2004 after it was discovered that he lent $6,000 to recruit Aleksandar Radojevic, 10TV's John Fortney reported.

Two appeals court judges ruled that Ohio State breached O'Brien's contract when they fired him. Despite loaning thousands of dollars to a recruit, the judges ruled that it didn't warrant termination, based on his overall performance as coach, Fortney reported.

Writing in his majority opinion, Judge Gary Tyack cited O'Brien's achievements while he was head coach at Ohio State.

"Several key witnesses including, OSU's (former) Athletic Director Andy Geiger testified that O'brien had done a fine job as head men's basketball coach, which was evidenced demonstratively by the team's winning record and O'Brien's numerous national coaching awards."

Judge Judith French disagreed with the majority, ruling that O'Brien's actions damaged the university's damage.

"That characterization hardly describes the magnitude of O'Brien's actions and again misses the larger point that O'Brien's contract violated as Geiger put it, 'the essence of college sports.'"

Ohio State Vice President and General Counsel Christopher M. Culley expressed displeasure with the court's decision in a university statement.

"The Ohio State University is disappointed with today's 2-1 decision in the case of former men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien," Culley wrote. "Ohio State is committed to the highest possible standards for its athletics programs and maintains that it acted appropriately in dismissing Coach O'Brien after he committed serious NCAA violations in breach of his contract and failed to report those in a timely manner to the university.
 
Culley said after consulting with Ohio's Attorney General, the university would "begin consideration of an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court."

After O'Brien's termination in 2004, a judge ruled that although O'Brien violated NCAA violations, the university did not have proper grounds to fire him, based on terms of his contract.

O'Brien sued Ohio State for his firing and won $2.2 million plus interest from the university last August.  The case was later appealed by the university.

During the latest round of appeals, Ohio State attorneys argued that O'Brien committed fraud when he gave Radojevic's mother the $6,000. They claimed that O'Brien committed breach of contract when he did not immediately inform the university about the payment.
 
Meanwhile, O'Brien's attorneys sought about $1.3 million more in damages because O'Brien was fired by the university before the NCCA could rule on the violations.

An investigation by the university determined that seven NCAA violations occurred during O'Brien's tenure, The Associated Press reported.

Following the NCAA's investigation, O'Brien was banned from coaching until 2009.

Stay with 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for continuing coverage.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Previous Stories:

Sept. 17, 2007: Ohio State Appeals O'Brien Ruling
April 13, 2007: NCAA Throws Out Some Ohio State Basketball Violations
Aug. 18, 2006: Court Rules In Favor Of Jim O'Brien
Aug. 18, 2006: Judge Awards O'Brien Another $206,000
Aug. 2, 2006: Judge Awards O'Brien $2.2 Million