You’re Nuts: Who is your wildest choice for Ohio State men’s basketball coach?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Even though
Ohio State’s men’s basketball team has wins over Purdue and
Michigan State recently, it feels like the biggest question surrounding the team right now is who will be named head coach once the season ends. A couple of weeks ago Ohio State decided it was time to move on from head coach Chris Holtmann, leaving assistant coach Jake Diebler to finish out the season. Despite the Buckeyes upsetting the Boilermakers, as well as snapping a school-record road losing streak on Sunday at Michigan State, it’s hard to imagine Diebler having the interim tag removed from his job title once the season ends.
Since Ohio State is one of the most attractive jobs in the country, there are already candidates being linked with the position. Former Buckeyes Chris Jent and Scoonie Penn have already stated their interest in coming back to Columbus to take over as head coach. Once the college basketball season winds down there is sure to be even more current college basketball head coaches who will be eager to take on the challenge of restoring Ohio State to basketball glory. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris and Xavier’s Sean Miller are a couple of coaches that have already been talked about as possible replacements for Holtmann.
Today we are going to have a bit of fun with the head coaching search. We want to know who your wildest choice for Ohio State men’s basketball head coach is. This could be a former player, former assistant, or maybe a high-profile coach who is likely a pipe dream for the head coaching position in Columbus. Obviously, these coaching choices are meant for entertainment purposes only, and shouldn’t be taken seriously. We just wanted to introduce a little bit of fun chaos before the real candidates are vetted.
Today’s question: Who is your wildest choice for the Ohio State men’s basketball head coaching position?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Aaron Craft
Even though Craft has no coaching experience, there is a bit of coaching in his blood since his father was the coach of a junior high basketball team. Because of his father’s position, the Ohio State guard would end up participating in defensive drills while he was in just second and third grade, which helps to explain why Craft was so tenacious on defense throughout his basketball career. Craft would go on to become one of the most beloved Buckeyes in school history, and one of the most hated college basketball players when it comes to the rest of the country.
Not that former players taking head coaching positions is anything new, but recently there has been a number of notable former players taking head coaching positions. Duke hired Jon Scheyer to take over for Coach K when he retired,
Georgia Tech hired Damon Stoudemire after last season, and Cal did the same when they brought in Mark Madsen. Just make sure if you’re going to hire a former player as head coach, it doesn’t go as sideways as it has with Michigan and Juwan Howard.
Another reason why Craft would be an interesting head coaching choice is he is highly intelligent, as evidenced by being accepted into Ohio State’s medical school. If Craft is able to handle dealing with making decisions that might mean life or death for patients, he should be able to easily handle recruiting, NIL, the transfer portal, and the rest of the obstacles that come with being a head coach in college sports. Plus, it would be amazing to see how the rest of the fans of Big Ten teams reacted to having Craft back on the college basketball scene after they thought they had seen the last of him a decade ago as a player.
Matt’s answer: Greg Oden
Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
Look, I was seriously considering going with Thad Matta. He is back at Butler, looks healthy, and has the Bulldogs above .500. Remember, Thad is only in his mid-50s, so he’s got plenty of coaching still left in him, and given the fervor from fans to return to the time when he had the Buckeyes competing for Big Ten and national titles on a regular basis, I think a not-insignificant portion of Buckeye Nation would be on board for a Matta return.
However, The Columbus Dispatch men’s basketball beat writer
Adam Jardy beat me to it, so my initially silly, off-the-wall suggestion lacks the impact I had hoped for. So, I am going to pivot to a guy currently on Matta’s staff. The one and only Greg Oden.
When it comes to a former player becoming the MBB coach, I would prefer the point guard of my first few teams as an OSU student Scoonie Penn, or my childhood basketball idol Chris Jent, but since both have been reportedly interested in the position, I don’t think that they could be considered “wild choices.”
So, give me the big man. He is Ohio State’s only No. 1
NBA draft pick, he played nine years of professional basketball, and he has worked on staff at both Ohio State and Butler — not to mention with Carmen’s Crew. Oden currently serves as the director of basketball operations for Matta’s program.
Yeah, sure, incoming OSU athletic director Ross Bjork has stressed that coaching experience — including as a head coach — will be important in the hiring of Chris Holtmann’s replacement, but come on, it’s Greg Oden. He would be uniquely equipped to talk about the issues impacting modern athletes, both physically and emotionally. Very few players have had to deal with their bodies letting them down and the shame and doubt that surrounds those circumstances.
He knows what it’s like to succeed at a high level at college and to have huge amounts of money thrown at you; while he didn’t play in the NIL era, few players turned coaches probably understand the thought process of dealing with those opportunities better than Oden.
Can Oden actually coach? I don’t know. Is he prepared to be the head coach of a major Big Ten program? Almost certainly not. But at least he’s been a part of multiple college basketball coaching staffs, unlikely Brett’s pick of Dr. Craft!
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