Ohio State and Head Coach Chris Holtmann have parted ways after seven seasons as the Buckeyes head coach.
Ohio State basketball is expected to move on from Chris Holtmann as soon as today.
Holtmann has been the head coach since 2017, and never made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
He went 30-29 and missed the tournament the past two seasons. pic.twitter.com/c5h4L4jAXE
— The Silver Bulletin (@tSilverBulletin) February 14, 2024
In his seven seasons, Holtmann finishes with a 137-84 record and a 67-63 record in the Big Ten. He led the Buckeyes to four NCAA Tournaments appearances with only two tournament wins in his time. Holtmann is 30-29 in the past two seasons, and 9-24 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes have not won a road game since January 1st,2023, and are 0-16 in away games.
Both Holtmann and Buckeye fans knew this season could be the last straw in his campaign to stay in Columbus. He was able to bring in four-star Devin Royal, Scotty Middleton, and Taison Chatman to pair alongside returning freshman Bruce Thornton, Felix Okpara, and Roddy Gayle Jr. He brought in former Minnesota and George Washington graduate senior Jamison Battle to add wing depth and perimeter shooting, something they lacked last season.
The start of the season looked promising, as the Buckeyes started 12-2 with their only losses coming to #15 Texas A&M and Penn State. The momentum was there as they handled #17 Alabama and Santa Clara to win the Emerald Coast Classic. But January struck again, and everything fell apart for Holtmann and company. They were able to beat Rutgers at home but blew another double-digit lead as they did less than 3 weeks prior. The next three games were extremely important when it came to talking about the NCAA Tournament. They dropped all three of them but managed to keep their name in the running for a tournament bid.
The Buckeyes have dropped 9 of their last 12 games and currently sit with a 14-11 record. According to several websites, they are projected to be a six seed in the NIT tournament and an Auto Bid selection for the Big Ten.
Holtmann has helped produce several talents for the NBA. Malakai Branham, EJ Liddell, Duane Washington Jr, and Brice Sensabaugh are all names who have been either drafted or signed to an NBA team under Holtmann’s reign.
New Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork will have his first challenge very quickly into his reign in hopes of helping turn the program around.
Ohio State’s candidate pool is probably deeper than Louisville’s as far as reasonable options.
Greg McDermott
Sean Miller
Nate Oats
Lamont Paris
Dusty May
Mick Cronin
Porter MoserHealthy NIL and resources. A sitting high major coach will take this one.
— Trilly Donovan (@trillydonovan) February 14, 2024
Some of the early names being tossed around are.
Jerome Tang (Kansas State), Pat Kelsey (Charleston), Anthony Grant (Dayton), Porter Moser (Oklahoma), Greg McDermott (Creighton), Sean Miller (Xavier), Chris Mack (Former Louisville and Xavier HC), Jake Diebler (Ohio State Associate Head Coach)
AJ is currently a senior at Teays Valley High School and plans to attend college next year. He has been a sports fan and Ohio State fan since he was a kid, and has been covering sports since 2020. He was a student manager for his Boy’s Basketball team for two seasons where the team won back to back league championships. AJ runs his own podcast called Just Talkin Sports, where he interviews athletes from all sports. He has over 1,800 plays on Spotify and 300 followers on Instagram. AJ plans to study Sport Management and minor in Journalism while also becoming a student manager for his selected college.