Damaged vocal cord has OSU hoops coach using microphone

COLUMBUS (AP) -- Ohio State men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien hopes a damaged vocal cord will repair itself so he can continue coaching without having to use a microphone.
"[Doctors] tell me there's a chance that can happen. But if it doesn't, there's more surgical options to repair that," he said.
One of O'Brien's two vocal cords was damaged when he had surgery Oct. 1 to correct chronic neck pain that had spread to his right arm.
He said doctors advised him that the procedure, done through the front of the neck, could hurt his ability to speak.
"It has to get better if I'm going to continue my coaching career, quite honestly," O'Brien said after the Buckeyes' first exhibition game Friday.
O'Brien has had to use a microphone in practice. The team will look for other ways to help him communicate with players, Ohio State spokesman Dan Wallenberg said.
"They say if it doesn't come back after eight months, it's not coming back," said O'Brien, who had a raspy voice before the surgery. "It could come back next week. It could come back in six months. I think we have to be a little bit patient, but I'm of the mindset I want to coach. I want to coach these kids. I really like this team a lot."
In the event that O'Brien can't continue coaching this season, associate head coach Rick Boyages figures to stand in.
Boyages, 41, rejoined O'Brien's staff in April after leaving as coach at William and Mary. Before that, Boyages was associate head coach from 1998 to 2000, and was also O'Brien's assistant for six seasons at Boston College.