NCAA rules permit teams three bench assistants and David Woods of the
Indianapolis Star is reporting Holtmann
intends to bring his entire three-man staff – Terry Johnson, Ryan Pedon and Mike Schrage. Complicating matters is the fact that Butler traditionally likes to hire from within. Each of the Bulldogs' previous five coaches were already on Butler's staff when promoted to the top spot and both Johnson and Pedon are expected to interview for the now vacant position. Naturally, neither coach will pass on the top job at Butler to follow Holtmann to Columbus.
Pedon, a Bexley native, is the staff recruiting ace. He played his college ball at Wooster and coached at Miami, Kent State and Toledo. He knows Ohio prep basketball extremely well and is tight with four-star class of 2018 small forward Jerome Hunter of Pickerington North and four-star class of 2019 point guard Jeremiah Francis. He was also instrumental in landing
Massillon's Kyle Young.
Another assistant on Holtmann's staff,
Mike Schrage, is not expected to interview for the Butler job and
should make the move to Ohio State.
Should Johnson or Pedon earn a promotion, there are another name out there worth keeping an eye on. A source tells
Eleven Warriors that Holtmann really likes
Aaron Fuss, who joined the staff at Tennessee-Chattanooga two weeks ago. Fuss was an Ohio State student manager, before
spending nearly a decade in Athens where he started as the director of basketball operations and an assistant coach for Ohio University.
While with the Bobcats, Fuss was responsible for recruiting Central Ohio, pulling Rodney Culver, Doug Taylor, Jordan Daris and Jason Carter, who could play for Ohio State right now, in the last two years, alone.