""

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann talks with players during a timeout during the Ohio State-Illinois game on March 6. Ohio State lost 68-73. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor 

There’s no clear definition or blueprint on what makes a good culture. 

There’s no secret formula hiding under a desk in head coach Chris Holtmann’s office that contains highly classified information about the culture of the Ohio State basketball team —it’s more of an unspoken construct that can’t be forced.  

“More often than not, on the best teams, culture is not something you need to talk about,” former Ohio State basketball walk-on Joey Lane said. 

Under Holtmann’s leadership, the Buckeyes have progressed to a top-10 ranking and an 18-8 record in the coach’s fourth year with the program. Assistant coach Ryan Pedon said the team’s culture has been a contributing factor to the Buckeyes’ recent success.  

“I think [the culture] has been very instrumental to our success,” Pedon said. 

The current upbeat and joyful culture of the Ohio State basketball team was largely fostered by Lane, who played for the team from 2016-19. 

Lane played under both former head coach Thad Matta and Holtmann, who arrived in 2017 and brought with him values of honesty, humility and accountability, Lane said.

Any time a new coach is brought into a program, a new culture is phased in along with it.

But it’s not as if the moment Holtmann took his first step onto the court inside the Schottenstein Center everything changed.

“You don’t walk into the door as a head coach and immediately change the culture,” Pedon said. “Your habits and your behaviors shape what your culture becomes,” Pedon said.  

Most coaches could give an elevator pitch on what their culture is, and for Ohio State, it’s “a value-based, process-driven culture where unselfishness, toughness, responsibility and being a great teammate are things that are vitally important,” Pedon said. 

At times, the word “culture” can seem like just a buzzword or something a coach pulls out of their back pocket during their introductory press conference because it makes a good sound bite for the social media or the nightly news.  

“There should be a word counter for the word ‘culture’ every time you hear when a coach gets hired,” Cleveland.com Ohio State beat reporter Stephen Means, who has covered the team since 2017, said.  

However, Pedon said what makes Ohio State’s culture different from the rest is how the players buy in. 

“If we had a bunch of guys who were talented and didn’t buy in, I don’t think you’d see the same success,” Pedon said. 

Means said he delegated the “bench mob” — a collection of reserve players that aim to create energy from the sidelines —  as a strong indicator of culture.

“In college basketball, more than anything else, if you have a bench mob, that’s a real implication of your culture,” Means said.

But Ohio State has had a bench mob since Lane started the “towel gang” in 2017 and led some of the rowdiest benches in the country. 

Means described culture as a multi-year process. 

“It doesn’t show up the first year and a half,” Means said. “It shows up two to three years down the line.”

Now, in Holtmann’s fourth year, the Buckeyes have been put in the perfect position, residing in the top 10 and entering the postseason with an 18-8 record. 

However, Ohio State ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak, including its latest loss to No. 4 Illinois. There are questions about the validity of the team many thought would lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

Despite the late-season slide, Means said that the tough times can bring out the best in the Buckeye culture.

“Anybody can be happy and love each other when you’re having success,” Means said. “The culture shows up when you’re having a bit of failure.”