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Chris Holtmann (ex-tOSU Bball coach, HC at DePaul)

After throwing out the first pitch at the Cincinnati Reds game last Thursday, Ohio State's basketball coach is now set to make the trip back up I-71 to do the same in Cleveland on Friday, according to Hayden Grove of Cleveland.com.

 
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Of some note. The basketball program has been an excellent representative of the University under Matta and I expect it to continue. Ranked among his peers as one of the "clean" coaches in NCAA. We'll ignore the top choice.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...high-major-coaches-who-dont-break-ncaa-rules/

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Worth repeating, in light of the recent FBI activities regarding college basketball recruiting.
 
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Bob Baptist has been lured out of retirement to make some of that Internet money with long form articles for The Athletic.

Link

Chris Holtmann rebuilding Buckeyes basketball from inside Ohio then out
Special to The Athletic Sep 27, 2017
By Bob Baptist

Somewhere along the way, while Ohio State was losing in the Sweet 16 in 2010 with national player of the year Evan Turner, and again in 2011 with the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, then-coach Thad Matta concluded that if he ever was going to win the only game he never had — the NCAA championship game — he had to start recruiting the same blue chips as the teams winning those titles.

With Ohio temporarily out of high-end talent after five years of Matta mining it, and with Ohio State's brand as strong as it had ever been in basketball, Matta and his staff ventured far outside the Midwest in trying to close the gap with the Dukes and Kentuckys and North Carolinas.

It ended up a fatal attraction.

For several years, Matta went head-to-head with the bluebloods and whiffed. In the meantime, he neglected his base and his Big Ten rivals moved in, signing overlooked prospects from his backyard and developing them into stars. Trey Burke and Caris LeVert, both Columbus natives, became NBA first-round draft choices from Michigan. Aaron White and Nigel Hayes left to become all-conference players at Iowa and Wisconsin, respectively.

In five recruiting classes from 2011-15, only four of Ohio State's 17 signees were from Ohio: Marc Loving, JaeSean Tate, Dave Bell and A.J. Harris. Unable to rake in any blue chips save for one-and-done guard D'Angelo Russell, Matta was left to take risks on talent or character that failed to measure up to the standard set by their predecessors.

The program's rapid fall from the Elite Eight in 2013 to no NCAA Tournament bid the past two years culminated in June with Ohio State firing Matta and replacing him with Butler coach Chris Holtmann — and a charge to Holtmann from athletic director Gene Smith to reclaim the upper hand in recruiting the Buckeye State.

But what of that higher goal – the rung Matta never reached in his 13 seasons in Columbus? The one Ohio State has achieved only once, in 1960, and played for only once in the past 55 years — the NCAA championship.

Matta's belief, shared by many coaches, was that a team needs three NBA-caliber players to win a title. His third Ohio State team had three in freshmen Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook when it played Florida in the 2007 final. All were one-and-done, first-round draft choices that year.

Holtmann, 45, also subscribes to the three-pro theory. But while he says he won't ignore a one-and-done if there is mutual interest and the player fits his ideal, he doesn't think that's the only way to beat the bluebloods.

Cont'd ...
 
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A whole bunch of interesting comments.....

Live Media Day Updates from Chris Holtmann

Chris-Holtmann.jpg


Ohio State men’s head basketball coach Chris Holtmann speaks with reporters on Thursday. Topics will center around his team, but also likely include the currently-embattled world of college basketball at large.
.
.
.
+ Keita Bates-Diop, they need to let him grow into his potential and prove what he is capable of. A lot of that will be determined by how he impacts winning. He can impact winning on both ends. He’ll have to shake off some rust and fans will need to be patient, but his attitude has been 10/10 since they came on board.

+ Freshman Musa Jallow could compete for a starting spot, “as with a number of our guys. He’ll get what he earns.”

+ Freshman Kyle Young plays hard and with a motor. He can help right away.

+ Holtmann doesn’t typically put numbers on players, in terms of a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Spots are so interchangeable now. What number is Draymond Green at Golden State? You just try to put your best, most versatile team out there.

+ Andrew Dakich knows that he has to be really good and really on point to compete at this level. Holtmann is anxious to see what he can do.

+ Holtmann still needs to figure out how these pieces are going to fit together. Jae’Sean Tate is a guy who can play three or four positions. Where will they get scoring? They have to figure that out yet. The foundation will be defense because they know there will be some scoring struggles this year.

+ The team will have to get better at dealing with adversity based on how they handled it last year. “If guys don’t respond, they’re not going to play as much because that’s a choice you make. If you can’t figure out how to respond the right way, certainly we’ll find someone who can.”

+ The season will be determined by how the team handles expectations meeting reality. If they can’t handle going through tough stretches, then “we’ll struggle.” “That’s on me, that’s on us to hopefully walk through that the right way with our guys.”

+ There is no doubt that there will be a lot put on C.J. Jackson as the primary ball handler. As well as Andrew Dakich. “I’m excited about C.J.” Holtmann said he meets with Jackson as much as he does anybody else.
.
.
.
+ Kaleb Wesson’s body transformation has been a major development. He is very skilled. Before Holtmann got here, he said people questioned Wesson’s motor. He should be applauded for his improvement in that area. He needs to play and contribute this year. Wesson and Musa Jallow are both 17 years old. He’s not sure he’s ever had two 17-year-old freshmen.

+ Should coaches police each other? That’s not why the got into coaching and it’s something that they don’t want to do because they don’t know all of the details. Just because you hear things, that doesn’t mean what you hear is true.

+ The perfect system in Holtmann’s mind? “It’s really, really complex.” He understands the argument that people make about player compensation, but it’s a complicated thing. The FBI is a lot scarier than the NCAA.
.
.
.
continued

Entire article: http://theozone.net/2017/09/live-media-day-updates-chris-holtmann/
 
Upvote 0
A whole bunch of interesting comments.....

Live Media Day Updates from Chris Holtmann

Chris-Holtmann.jpg


Ohio State men’s head basketball coach Chris Holtmann speaks with reporters on Thursday. Topics will center around his team, but also likely include the currently-embattled world of college basketball at large.
.
.
.
+ Keita Bates-Diop, they need to let him grow into his potential and prove what he is capable of. A lot of that will be determined by how he impacts winning. He can impact winning on both ends. He’ll have to shake off some rust and fans will need to be patient, but his attitude has been 10/10 since they came on board.

+ Freshman Musa Jallow could compete for a starting spot, “as with a number of our guys. He’ll get what he earns.”

+ Freshman Kyle Young plays hard and with a motor. He can help right away.

+ Holtmann doesn’t typically put numbers on players, in terms of a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Spots are so interchangeable now. What number is Draymond Green at Golden State? You just try to put your best, most versatile team out there.

+ Andrew Dakich knows that he has to be really good and really on point to compete at this level. Holtmann is anxious to see what he can do.

+ Holtmann still needs to figure out how these pieces are going to fit together. Jae’Sean Tate is a guy who can play three or four positions. Where will they get scoring? They have to figure that out yet. The foundation will be defense because they know there will be some scoring struggles this year.

+ The team will have to get better at dealing with adversity based on how they handled it last year. “If guys don’t respond, they’re not going to play as much because that’s a choice you make. If you can’t figure out how to respond the right way, certainly we’ll find someone who can.”

+ The season will be determined by how the team handles expectations meeting reality. If they can’t handle going through tough stretches, then “we’ll struggle.” “That’s on me, that’s on us to hopefully walk through that the right way with our guys.”

+ There is no doubt that there will be a lot put on C.J. Jackson as the primary ball handler. As well as Andrew Dakich. “I’m excited about C.J.” Holtmann said he meets with Jackson as much as he does anybody else.
.
.
.
+ Kaleb Wesson’s body transformation has been a major development. He is very skilled. Before Holtmann got here, he said people questioned Wesson’s motor. He should be applauded for his improvement in that area. He needs to play and contribute this year. Wesson and Musa Jallow are both 17 years old. He’s not sure he’s ever had two 17-year-old freshmen.

+ Should coaches police each other? That’s not why the got into coaching and it’s something that they don’t want to do because they don’t know all of the details. Just because you hear things, that doesn’t mean what you hear is true.

+ The perfect system in Holtmann’s mind? “It’s really, really complex.” He understands the argument that people make about player compensation, but it’s a complicated thing. The FBI is a lot scarier than the NCAA.
.
.
.
continued

Entire article: http://theozone.net/2017/09/live-media-day-updates-chris-holtmann/
I like this guy more everyday. holt2
 
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Chris did a good job of adding a couple solid players this summer, but to me it looks like an NIT team on paper.

That being said, kudos to Chris for doing the right thing in scheduling. To add a Cincinnati series (and subtract some guarantee games) is a positive step. I am also hoping/expecting that he will schedule a 2 or 3 game nonconference regular season tourney played at a neutral site in most every season, hopefully that news will come soon as well.
 
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