By MARK HUBER

mhuber@wnewsj.com

It was like sitting around the coffee shop following the big game. Art Schlichter was holding court at his book signing at Books N More downtown Thursday night.

There was a guy there from Circleville asking about playing the Tigers. Of course, folks from Wilmington were recalling the days when he played against Gary Williams and the Hurricane. Schlichter and Williams would later become stars at Ohio State.

Schlichter and Tony Berlin, high school rivals who became friends off the field, traded playful jabs much to the delight of those who attended. Schlichter was in town to sign copies of his book “Busted: The Rise & Fall of Art Schlichter.” The book was published by Orange Frazer Press.

“This book is a tale of someone who had a lot and lost it all,” said Schlichter, who seemed at ease talking with the crowd. “I lost my freedom, my family, my career … lots of money.”

Schlichter said he hopes the book “helps some people who are suffering with an addiction, gambling, alcohol, whatever it is. Gambling makes you a liar, cheater and a thief. It’s a daily struggle, working through an addiction. I’m hoping it will get a little better.”

Schlichter is a graduate of Miami Trace High School, who was a high school All-American football player for the Panthers. Though his first love was basketball, Schlichter was courted heavily by Big Ten football legends Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler to play football.

Hayes and his wife Anne even spent Thanksgiving Day at the Schlichter household prior to Art’s decision to attend Ohio State.

While Schlichter rose to fame across the country with his play for the Buckeyes, the gambling problem was planting its seed. Like an annoying weed, it grew and grew and grew, before finally taking a firm grip on Schlichter’s life his rookie year in the National Football League.

Being a No. 1 draft pick, who received plenty of money, didn’t help Schlichter and by the end of his rookie season he admits he was a “full-blown gambler.”

Schlichter has spent 10 years in 40 different jails and prisons for forgery, fraud, theft and embezzlement, all to finance his gambling addiction, the book’s dust jacket states.

In addition to the book, Schlichter said Thursday there is a possibility his life story could be made into a movie.

“Hopefully, that will come at some point,“ he said. “We’ve had some nibbles with that.”