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Ohio State is not a basketball school. There, I said it. But the Buckeyes should be better than what they are.
The question is how much better? We can agree that even if football is your calling card, losing 16 consecutive men’s basketball games on the road, which ties the school record, is a grim reminder that something is more than a little wrong on the roundball side of things.
The program feels like it is in freefall, which is why Ohio State pulled the plug on Chris Holtmann on Wednesday, firing the 52-year-old coach with six games remaining in the regular season. The Buckeyes, 14-11 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten, have trended downward since the beginning of last season, when they finished 16-19 and 5-15. Holtmann ends his seven-year tenure with a record of 137-86, with four trips to the NCAA Tournament, but without ever advancing to the Sweet 16, something he was able to do at his previous job coaching Butler.
A glaring indictment: Ohio State is 9-25 in the Big Ten since the beginning of last season. Not acceptable. Even for a football school.
What is acceptable? Better phrased, what is realistic? To what standard of excellence should OSU’s next coach be held?
Let’s begin with this: Ohio State is known for football, which based on history and common sense automatically puts it at a disadvantage against basketball schools.
Why? What do traditional basketball powers have that Ohio State does not? The quick and easy answer is “better talent.” Given a choice, the nation’s best high school players will choose traditionally dominant programs such as Duke, North Carolina and Kansas.
It’s no different than the best high school football players gravitating to Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia instead of UCLA and UConn.
Ohio State is not Kentucky. The Scarlet and Gray are never going to be Big Blue. Demanding it…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/oller-ohio-state-fires-chris-180929128.html
Author : The Columbus Dispatch
Publish date : 2024-02-14 18:09:29
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