Head coach Chris Holtmann calling out to the Ohio State men’s basketball team. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
Chris Holtmann has been the head coach of the Ohio State basketball program since June 2017, when he was hired out of Butler, building culture and developing NBA-caliber athletes.
Wednesday morning, Holtmann was fired as head coach after nearly seven seasons with the team.
The Holtmann era began much sweeter than it ended, as the Buckeyes finished with a strong 25-9 record, and a 15-3 conference record that was good enough for second place in the Big Ten.
Unfortunately, the 2017-18 season, which ultimately ended with a second-round exit, was the furthest Ohio State would get in the NCAA tournament during Holtmann’s six full years in the driver’s seat.
The success in the four years following was pedestrian compared to the standards set by former head coach Thad Matta a few years prior.
Ohio State’s best season record over those four years was just 21-10, as the Buckeyes failed to make it past the second round of the NCAA tournament despite finishing as high as the second seed during March Madness rankings.
Last season was perhaps the biggest accelerator of the events leading up to Holtmann’s firing. A 16-19 record was the lowest finish for Buckeye basketball since Jim O’Brien’s final season as head coach nearly 20 years ago.
Over the course of the last two seasons, there has been a significant drop in not only the play quality of the Ohio State basketball players but also fan attendance, which is directly related to the lack of success the program has seen recently.
In each of the last four years — 2020’s attendance is void due to COVID-19 — Ohio State basketball attendance has dropped by nearly 1000 fans per contest, including this year’s record-low average at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center, which dipped to just below 10,500 spectators, according to the Ohio State Buckeyes website.
Holtmann’s biggest fault comes when Ohio State enters Big Ten play. The Buckeyes, as of late, have fallen flat in Big Ten contests, struggling because of a lack of physicality and difficulty running offensive sets down the stretch and in crunch time.
Last season, Ohio State finished with a conference record of 5-15, its lowest mark since 1997. So far this year, the Buckeyes have gone 4-10 in the Big Ten.
Ohio State seems to have lost its identity over the last two years. The play has been sloppy, there’s a lack of movement offensively, and the Buckeyes defense takes a beating due to offensive struggles.
The Buckeyes continuously blew large leads over the course of the Holtmann era, which seemed to be because of a lack of in-game adjustments. Just this year, Ohio State has fallen to both Penn State and Maryland when they led by as many as 18 at one point during the games.
Ohio State basketball during the last six years would impress fans with big victories just to turn around and drop games against Big Ten opponents that simply aren’t as talented, for instance, defeating then-No. 9 Duke in 2021.
One of Holtmann’s biggest draws as a head coach was his ability to recruit at a high level. Although, the on-court outcomes didn’t add up to the hype of top Ohio recruits.
Holtmann’s teams have been built around being strong defensively, but a lack of scoring ability outside of star players has hindered late Ohio State teams significantly. There are periods in games where the Buckeyes’ offensive stalls allowed other teams, especially the strong defensive teams on the Big Ten, to capitalize and go on runs that would force Ohio State out of games.
An oddity of the Holtmann era was that recent Buckeye teams have attempted to rely heavily on 3-point shooting, most notably as Ohio State’s fifth-year forward Jamison Battle is second in the Big Ten with 65 so far this year.
The inability to shoot the ball from the outside has caused the Buckeyes to shoot themselves out of games time and time again, despite the roster being better suited to penetrate inside, with their slew of athletic guards.
The Holtmann era at Ohio State was certainly not what fans had hoped for, but Buckeye fans will likely miss his charisma and love for the game of basketball.
Overall, Holtmann did a solid job as the Ohio State coach over the last seven years, but there were simply too many glaring holes in a program that seeks constant success for him to continue as head coach.
