I've followed Gee's career a bit, and I think he is in fact a great fit at Ohio State. He uses his dorky appearance as a tool to play the role of egghead who is personable and 'down to earth'. And he is able to stoke the hometown spirits to raise funds, relying heavily on athletics to do so.
I would also argue that from my knowledge (some direct, some indirect) there's not much substance to him, which one could argue is reflected in this incident. He is good at raising funds, and at a place like OSU that's his primary job.
In a more intellectual environment at Brown, without the huge hometown base and big-time athletics, he crashed and burned and was gone in a year or so.