Ohio State is looking for a new men’s basketball coach. The Buckeyes are set to fire Chris Holtmann following a 14-11 record this season, CBS Sports and 247Sports have learned. This was first reported by Jeff Goodman.
Holtmann was in charge of the Scarlet and Gray program for seven years, replacing Thad Matta prior to the 2017-18 season. During that time, Holtmann’s Ohio State teams went 137-86 and 67-65 in Big Ten play, making the NCAA Tournament four times but failing to reach the second weekend in any of those trips.
While the Buckeyes were largely successful under Holtmann during his first five years in Columbus, the last two seasons spelled the end of the head coach’s tenure. In each year, the Scarlet and Gray began the season well – 10-3 in 2022-23 and 12-2 this past year – before January struggles began a downward spiral from a fringe top-25 team to irrelevancy.
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After winning at Northwestern on Jan. 1, 2023, Ohio State lost 14 of the next 15 games, only defeating Iowa at home in late January. While the Buckeyes won two of their final three games in the regular season and made a surprising run to the Big Ten Tournament semifinal before losing to eventual champions Purdue, the Scarlet and Gray finished the year 16-19 (5-15 in the Big Ten) and did not play in the postseason.
Again, Ohio State started well this season, including winning the Emerald Coast Classic, including a victory against No. 17 Alabama, but won just three of their last 12 games after the calendar flipped to 2024. Twice during the year, the Scarlet and Gray blew an 18-point lead, including at home on Feb. 6 against a struggling Indiana team, a game Ohio State had to win.
While things did not end well for Holtmann in Columbus, his tenure with the Buckeyes was not all draped in struggles. The Scarlet and Gray went 25-9 during his first season in charge, finishing tied for second in the Big Ten standings. Ohio State won at least 20 games in each of Holtmann’s first five seasons and only didn’t take part in the NCAA Tournament due to its cancellation in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During Holtmann’s tenure, the Buckeyes had some memorable wins. The Scarlet and Gray took down No. 1 Michigan State at Value City Arena, beat No. 3 Purdue on the road and nearly pulled off the upset against No. 4 seed Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first year. The next season, the No. 11 seed Ohio State upset No. 6 seed Iowa State in the Big Dance. The Buckeyes beat No. 10 Villanova, No. 7 North Carolina on the road and No. 6 Kentucky in 2019-20 and won at No. 8 Iowa on the road and No. 4 Michigan the next season.
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Holtmann coached four Scarlet and Gray players who were selected in the NBA Draft, including first-rounders Malaki Branham and Brice Sensabaugh, as well as Keita Bates-Diop and EJ Liddell. Bates-Diop was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2018 and Liddell was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
