COLUMBUS (AP) - The NCAA has asked an Ohio court to reconsider its decision to open the organization's records from its investigation of the Ohio State basketball program.

The NCAA called the information ''highly sensitive'' and involving ''high-profile witnesses.''

The appeal was filed Wednesday with the Ohio Court of Claims.

The NCAA said the records include ''allegations of marital infidelity and threats against personal safety, descriptions of personal tragedies, personal financial information and allegations regarding well-known central Ohio figures.''

The appeal does not say who the central Ohio figures are or why such information is included in NCAA documents. Ohio State athletic department spokesman Steve Snapp said on Friday that the appeal is an NCAA matter and declined further comment.

The NCAA's motion is in response to a judge's order July 11 that the NCAA release the documents to fired basketball coach Jim O'Brien, who is suing the university.

Ohio State fired O'Brien after he acknowledged giving a basketball recruit $6,000 in 1999, a loan that O'Brien says was allowed because the recruit wasn't eligible to play college ball.

O'Brien is suing the university over his June 2004 firing and is seeking the $3.5 million he would have been paid under his contract.

O'Brien's lawyer, Joseph Murray, declined to comment Thursday on the NCAA motion. He said he will file an answer in court in the next few days.