One word came to mind as Gene Smith summed up his thoughts on the work Chris Holtmann has done with the Ohio State men’s basketball program.
Outstanding.
the three-year contract extension and the $500,000 pay raise Holtmann received in May already served as a clear indication of Smith’s approval of what the Buckeye head coach has accomplished in five seasons in Columbus. Perhaps more than that, he was a confidence vote on what the show could accomplish in the near future with more time under Holtmann’s leadership.
In an exclusive interview with eleven warriorsDan Hope, Ohio State’s athletic director last week praised the momentum Holtmann and company have built on the recruiting trail, specifically their top 10 nationally ranked. class of 2022 – which he believes will produce huge success for the show for years to come.
“When you look at the culture that we have and the student-athletes that we recruited and got the number one class in the Big Ten this year, top five nationally, and then you meet young people like me this summer and watch them train, they are exceptionally talented. Smith said. “So the future is bright, and you have good leadership coming back from last year and this team has a chance to be special for the long haul. Chris and I have talked about that. Hopefully we have young people who will be with us for a while.”
Ohio State has yet to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with Holtmann, and Holtmann has yet to raise a Big Ten championship banner at the Schottenstein Center. But including the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 season, all five of Buckeye’s teams have (or would have) won an overall bid for the Big Dance, which is something only Thad Matta has done at Ohio State before Holtmann.
“If we’re able to maintain some stability over time, good coaches have a great opportunity to really build a culture the right way and it’s really a beautiful thing.”– Gene Smith
Holtmann has posted five straight 20-win seasons with the Buckeyes, a feat matched only by Kansas and Oregon among the Power 5 programs. That level of consistency paid off during the offseason, as Holtmann’s new contract would have put him among the top 20. highest paid coaches in college basketball last season, with only Michigan State’s Tom Izzo earning a higher salary in the Big Ten.
Holtmann’s contract extension came in conjunction with Ohio State football coach Ryan Day. getting an extension that tied him with Mel Tucker as the highest-paid Big Ten football coach.
“I always felt that we needed to compensate our coaches, and particularly football and basketball, at the top of the conference and according to our expectations. And I really felt like both of them (Holtmann and Day) earned that opportunity,” Smith said. “I am a great believer in stability. If we’re able to maintain some stability over time, good coaches have a great opportunity to really build a culture the right way and it’s really a beautiful thing. So I’m excited about that.
“This is a different world than it was 10, 15, 20 years ago, or in terms of the ecosystem that we serve, or the recruitment and transfer portal or NIL that we talk about, and all that kind of stuff. Therefore, stability is critical, particularly at a time of change. So I wanted to make sure that we had two good coaches that could be with us for a while and compensate them according to the market and expectations, I think it’s always the right thing to do.”
Smith is well aware that Holtmann hasn’t reached the peaks his predecessor reached in Columbus, given the five Big Ten regular-season titles, four conference tournament championships and two Final Four appearances on Matta’s resume. However, if injuries to key players hadn’t been a factor last year, Smith believes the Buckeyes could have dug deeper into the NCAA Tournament.
Smith made a specific reference to sixth-year forward Justice Sueing, who missed all but two games last season due to a hernia problem. Sueing entered the season as one of the top two projected scorers on the team and a vital cog in getting it all done for the Buckeyes.
“You just have to pay close attention to everything about the show. Basketball is very fragile because of injuries and if certain players weren’t injured at the end of last year, history would have been different for us,” Smith said. “And I hope to see Justice Sueing have a full season after she recovers from the challenges of him. And his leadership and just his wisdom on the floor with these young puppies that we have.”
The young players Smith mentioned include five freshmen, four of whom are ranked among the top 65 overall prospects in the class of 2022, with Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Brice Sensabaugh and Bowen Hardman all on board this summer. . Along with three additions to the transfer portal, Ohio State has eight new scholarship players on the 2022-23 roster.
Even with that mix of top-tier talent on paper, betting on Holtmann’s best season may not be smart considering how many new faces he has to fuse in a short amount of time. Not to mention, the Buckeyes lost their two best players from a year ago: EJ Liddell and Malaki Branham. to the NBA draft in June.
Between his head coach and the promising new core, Smith still has a lot of faith in this year’s team and the future of the program nonetheless.
“They have talent, I have seen them work. I know how good these young guys are,” Smith said. “But you have to try to hold on to them and you have to play them. And Chris and I have talked about that a little bit, is that we will always have student-athletes that come from the transfer portal, but when you have a class like he has, you just have to play with them and take the bruises that you have. I will take them because they are young and inexperienced.
“But you’re building for the future and that’s what it’s all about.”