Former Charlotte head coach Alan Major, right, hired by Ohio State. Courtesy: TNS
After three seasons of not meeting expectations, it appears Ohio State coach Thad Matta is bringing back another member of his staff that brought him some of his best teams.
Alan Major is returning to Matta’s staff for the 2016 season, but this time in a new role. The team said he will serve the role of director of recruiting and player development.
Major has spent plenty of time working under Matta. He was an assistant coach to Matta at Xavier University from 2001 to 2004 and went on to OSU to coach under Matta again. From 2004 to 2010, Major helped to recruit and develop big men. He left after the 2010 season to serve as the head coach of UNC-Charlotte for five seasons where he accumulated a career record of 67-70 before leaving the team due to health issues during the 2014-2015 season.
Prior to his time with Matta, Major served as an assistant coach at Cal Lutheran from 1992-95, Pacific from 1995-98, Southern Illinois from 1998-99 and Pacific again from 1999-2000.
“Alan has many skills and talents above and beyond those he’s utilized as a coach over the years,” Matta said in an email. “I want him to help us develop a complete and well-rounded student-athlete. Alan is the perfect fit for this position.”
Major is no stranger to developing players. In his vast college basketball career spanning 23 years serving as either assistant coach or head coach, he has coached such players as former OSU first round NBA selections Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Evan Turner as well as former Xavier star and first rounder David West and Pacific No. 1 overall selection Michael Olowokandi.
Nearly everywhere he has gone, Major has found success. While Major worked with Matta both at Xavier and OSU, he contributed to a 234-77 record in his nine years. He reached the NCAA a total of seven times, once at Xavier reaching the Final Four (2004) and once going as far as the national championship game (2007). In 2008, the pair won the National Invitation Tournament title.
Along with Major, OSU announced that former manager and graduate assistant Kyle Davis has been promoted to the video coordinator position vacated after Jake Diebler left for an assistant coaching job at Vanderbilt.
Davis served as recruiting coordinator for the summer until Major was hired. As a graduate assistant in 2015-16, Davis helped the coaching staff with coordinating recruiting visits and preparing nearly all video footage used for game preparation. This is his first coaching job.
