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Ohio State Basketball: In a shocker, Matta out as Buckeyes coach

By Adam Jardy
The Columbus Dispatch
Monday
Posted at 2:17 PM

In a move that came as a shock to even those close to the program Monday afternoon, Ohio State announced that Thad Matta is out as Ohio State’s men’s basketball coach.

Ohio State said a national search for a new coach will begin immediately.

The announcement came during a hastily called news conference with Matta and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith in the team’s practice gym in Value City Arena.

Matta’s contract runs through the end of the 2019-20 season. He was paid a $625,000 bonus April 30 for still being employed.

In 13 seasons with the Buckeyes, Matta has compiled a 336-122 overall record, the best in school history. Ohio State has reached two Final Fours and one national championship game, losing to Florida in 2007. Matta inherited a program facing a one-year postseason ban and put together a 20-12 season, his fifth in five years as a head coach.

It was the start of a 12-year run of at least 20 wins each season with Ohio State before slumping to a 17-15 record last year in a season that ended without a postseason bid. Ohio State lost four freshmen to transfers during and after the 2015-16 season, then had another player quit the team this offseason while potential fifth-year senior Trevor Thompson left early for the NBA.

The Buckeyes have nine recruited scholarship players on the roster for the upcoming season.

On March 8, the day Ohio State lost to Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Smith released a statement and then reiterated in an interview with The Dispatch that Matta would be back to coach the team in the 2017-18 season.

“We’ll have the offseason for Thad to put in place the things he feels we need to have in place to be able to get back to where we want,” Smith said then. “Those are things that he and I will continue to talk about.”

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

Oh well.

That 2007 finals game was a heart breaker.

“On March 8, the day Ohio State lost to Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Smith released a statement and then reiterated in an interview with The Dispatch that Matta would be back to coach the team in the 2017-18 season.”

Why do they lie like this all the time?

I’m talking about OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith. And athletic directors in general.

CBS Sports had a headline that he retired ..... but the article doesn't really go that way except for one line...

Thad Matta out as Ohio State coach effective immediately - CBSSports.com
http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketb...ve-immediately/

Thad Matta will not continue as Ohio State's basketball coach, the school announced Monday afternoon.
"While this may be a surprise to many, it's the right thing for our program at this time," said OSU athletic director Gene Smith, who cited poor recruiting this offseason as his motivation for approaching Matta last Friday about making a change.

Smith said Matta agreed it was time. The Buckeyes -- thanks to players leaving the program and subpar recruiting -- are projected to miss the NCAA Tournament next season for the third consecutive year. Matta, as a head coach, had previously never missed the NCAA Tournament twice in a row.
Matta has been Ohio State's coach since 2004. He won five Big Ten regular-season titles, four Big Ten Tournament titles and made the Final Four twice -- first in 2007 with Greg Oden and Mike Conley, then again in 2012 with Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft. But the program had taken an undeniable turn in recent years. Ohio State missed the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and 2017 -- and not a single member of the 2015 recruiting class that ranked fifth nationally remains on campus.

Matta coached at Butler for one season and at Xavier for three before spending the last 13 at Ohio State, where he was 337-123. Add it up, and he has 17 years as a Division I coach on his resume. He made the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the first 14 seasons he was eligible but missed it each of the past two.
Yes, Matta is only 49 years old. But it's well known that he has struggled with his health since a botched back surgery in 2007. So it's not a stretch to suggest the downturn in the program is at least partly connected to those health issues.

"My only goal now is to get healthy," Matta said Monday.

Asked if he'd still be OSU's coach if not for health issues, Matta answered, "Yeah, probably."

Smith said Ohio State will conduct a national search that will begin immediately. It's reasonable to expect Xavier's Chris Mack, Butler's Chris Holtmann, Wichita State's Gregg Marshall and even Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan to be among those at or near the top of OSU's list of possible candidates. But whether any of those men would be willing to make a change -- especially Marshall or Donovan -- remains unclear.

It sure sounds like the Ohio State men's basketball program is in shambles.

And last championship - 1960.

His daughter just graduated from high school last week, so the timing could have been worse.

Because you have to say something. And if you say his future is uncertain, then you run the risk of losing any recruits that might be on the fence or undecided, even if you decide to keep him. Or maybe he just felt in that moment that Matta would be back, then big $ donors started calling and applying pressure. Who really knows.

I'm not listening.

Surprising.... Hope they can get someone in o can recruit... Liked Thad... Sad to see him go but we haven't been very prominent for awhile...

Time overdue for a change IMO. How does somebody who hasn't produced much lately dictate what is needed? The program is a wreck and I am hungry to see a new quality coach not named Brown.

Should've happened months ago. Would love to have had Archie Miller instead. Thad's health is just too poor to continue to coach at the level that he needs to.

Thad's a good coach, just think it was time for a change for both. I wish him well.

I would like to see an improvement in the program, but if I'm being honest, I'm just not that much into college basketball, and enjoy the tournament more as a whole than I do watching Ohio State, who is probably my default favorite team, progress through their season.

College hoops regular season is absolutely painful to watch. I'm just not that into it. I know tons of people are, but most of these games seem worthless, outside of a few matchups and the traditional rivalry games.

They're using the "F" word now. (fired)



"You gone sucka"

My understanding is that Thad knew this was coming. His biggest downfall lately has been recruiting and developing players and apparently there was a meeting earlier this year about that. The reason he was kept then was because OSU was still in on some solid recruits but they fell through plus the recent exodus of players made the change necessary.

McDermott (Creighton) turned it down.
The new target is Holtmann from Butler.

Chris Holtmann's contract at Ohio State will be 8 years, $3.1 million per year: Reports | cleveland.com
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/2017/06/chris_holtmanns_contract_at_oh.html#incart_2box

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Chris Holtmann's new contract with Ohio State basketball will pay the coach $3.1 million per year over the course of an eight-year deal, according to multiple reports.

Ohio State confirmed on Friday that deal is worth about $3 million per year over eight years.

The minute details of the deal are not yet known, but that $3.1 million is slightly less than what Ohio State would have had to pay Thad Matta per year over the remainder of his contract.

Matta was fired on Monday after 13 seasons with the program.

Matta signed a contract extension in 2012 that had him locked in through the 2019-20 season. That deal included increases in base salary, TV rights money and money from Ohio State's partnership with Nike year-by-year. It also included a $625,000 bonus each April should Matta remain under contract.

All told, Ohio State was set to pay Matta about $3.5 million for the 2017-18 season.

Firing Matta will still cost Ohio State money. Athletic director Gene Smith said Matta's contracted would be honored, though the details were still being worked out. Language in Matta's contract would have the university paying about $9 million to let him go.

David Woods ✔ @DavidWoods007
BREAKING: Source tells IndyStar that #Butler's Chris Holtmann has accepted job at Ohio State. Eight years, $3.1 million a year.
9:17 AM - 9 Jun 2017

Holtmann had just signed a contract extension with Butler through the 2024-25 season. The Indianapolis Star reported that Holtmann was making $1.2 million per year. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Holtmann's contract with Butler had a $2million buyout.

dang, 8 years is a pretty long contract. I know contracts mean basically nothing these days, but still

Time for Holtmann to invest in some new ties.





Hey look. A Buckeye Bow Tie made out of a picnic table clothe.



Alright, I’ll be happy with:

They do mean something, they determine how long OSU has to pay him after they fire him.

You're welcome Chris. Anytime.

Looks like Chris was able to close on a lot of recruits that were recruited by Matta. We had the best recruiting class in the Big 10 for 2017. Must be doing something right. I'm pretty excited to watch him work his magic.

quote above by CHS:



Great news. Good job Chris!

Now how about learning how to tie a tie.