Ohio State former head coach Chris Holtmann cheers on his defense during No. 25 Ohio State’s (6-2) 96-59 win over Saint Francis University (2-7) in Columbus Dec. 22, 2022. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Former Ohio State men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann is now a Blue Demon according to ESPN analyst Adam Schefter.
DePaul was in search of the program’s next head coach after firing Tony Stubblefield on Jan. 22, who was out to a 3-15 record to begin the season.
The Big East Conference won’t be new to Holtmann, though.
Prior to being hired as Ohio State’s head coach in 2017, Holtmann was an assistant coach at Butler University in July 2013, before being named the interim head coach in October 2014 and eventually the full-time head coach in January 2015.
In that span, Holtmann led Butler to a 70-31 record, which included a 25-9 record in the 2016-17 season.
Following that season with the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes hired Holtmann as their next head coach.
Holtmann was at the helm of Buckeye men’s basketball from 2017 to 2024, where he had a career record of 137-86. During his time in Columbus, he was a two-time Naismith National Coach of the Year Finalist (2018, 2021) as well as the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018.
Holtmann was fired by Ohio State on Feb. 14 due to the team’s continuous poor performance, as it stood with a 14-11 overall record and 4-11 record in the Big Ten. Following the move, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said the expectations for Ohio State men’s basketball hadn’t been met.
“The standard for men’s basketball is the same – be in the hunt, periodically win the [Big Ten] championship and then go deep into the postseason,” Smith said in a press conference on Feb. 14. “That hasn’t been accomplished. We need to do better.”
Now, things are looking promising for the 52-year-old Lexington, Kentucky, native as he has a good chance at becoming the next head coach at DePaul.
