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Thad Matta (OSU's All Time Winningest Coach & 3x B1G COY, Butler HC)

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We're surrounded by Izzo, Pitino, Cal and Huggins which are 4 HOF or HOF caliber coaches. Archie is going to be able recruit really well at Indiana. Painter, Belien, Holtmann and Mack are all fairly capable recruiters.

Thad or whoever the next guy is gonna have a challenging environment recruiting in and around Ohio. Is there enough oxygen left in the room for Ohio St?

The other thing that concerns me is that Ohio State basketball the brand has eroded over the past couple of seasons. Columbus I think we should be in good shape but in Cleveland, Cincinnati or outside of Central Ohio in state are we gonna lose traction recruiting wise against Indiana, Louisville, UK, etc. if we're battling for the same kid out of Toledo, Cincinnati,etc. ? We got Darius Bazley from Cincy in 2018 but how much harder is gonna be to keep a Markel Johnson or Dwayne Cohill going forward?

I think this is gonna make it harder for Thad to turn it around and might make the job less attractive whenever it opens up.
 
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DaytonBuck said:
We're surrounded by Izzo, Pitino, Cal and Huggins which are 4 HOF or HOF caliber coaches. Archie is going to be able recruit really well at Indiana. Painter, Belien, Holtmann and Mack are all fairly capable recruiters.

Thad or whoever the next guy is gonna have a challenging environment recruiting in and around Ohio. Is there enough oxygen left in the room for Ohio St?

The other thing that concerns me is that Ohio State basketball the brand has eroded over the past couple of seasons. Columbus I think we should be in good shape but in Cleveland, Cincinnati or outside of Central Ohio in state are we gonna lose traction recruiting wise against Indiana, Louisville, UK, etc. if we're battling for the same kid out of Toledo, Cincinnati,etc. ? We got Darius Bazley from Cincy in 2018 but how much harder is gonna be to keep a Markel Johnson or Dwayne Cohill going forward?

I think this is gonna make it harder for Thad to turn it around and might make the job less attractive whenever it opens up.
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Basketball at tOSU will almost always be a challenge, but with the athletic department's resources, there's no reason it cannot be a consistent Top-15/Top-25 job. It's definitely better than it has been the last 2-3 years and than where it appears to be headed. We can afford to pay a coach a top-10 salary, and that will make it attractive. As attractive as a Sparty, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas? Hell no. But it can certainly be on par with the rest of the conference.

Under Matta, when things were humming, we benefitted from a lot of unusual circumstances. IU was nuked and had to totally rebuild. UK was suffering through the end of the Tubby/Gillispie years. scUM was in a decade-plus slumber. Purdue was up-and-down. We happened on a driven young coach who could recruit like a motherfucker, and it paid off. When Matta moves on, I hope we go the same route. Problem is, Archie was THE perfect candidate...young and driven, charismatic, and had the in-game coaching chops that Matta somewhat lacked. Now he goes to a conference rival. I'm sure in between now and when Matta moves on, other young guys will emerge. Maybe Mack down at Xavier wants to step up, though I certainly don't think that's a guarantee.

People will always look at Matta and think we have to replace what he did from 2006-12. That is flawed. Matta was the benefactor of a lot things that I covered above. I don't know that the next guy will get that luxury. Plus, it's a different game than it was 10 years ago. I don't know that we'll ever get another run where we win a bunch of conference titles and make a couple of final-fours over a few years. Maybe, but it'll be very, very difficult. But I don't think it's much of a challenge to top the last five years.
 
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AS OHIO STATE CONTINUES TO STRUGGLE ON THE COURT, ATTENDANCE KEEPS DIPPING

81055_h.jpg,qitok=Evty31KS.pagespeed.ce.WnJeFJaXvX.jpg


Value City Arena isn’t exactly the most intimidating venue in the Big Ten.

This isn’t really breaking news, of course. And Ohio State’s less-than-impressive 13-6 home record — which featured a 4-5 mark in conference play — only solidifies that.

The Buckeyes play in a modern NBA-style arena that seats 18,909 — the ninth largest in Division I, according to kenpom.com. Ohio State did not sell out one home game during the 2016–17 season, however, and only topped the 15,000-mark twice. It’s not exactly a raucous environment even when it’s filled and anybody who has ever attended a game there can probably attest to that.

Attendance declines are the product of on-court struggles the last few seasons for the Buckeyes. For the first time in the Thad Matta era, Ohio State failed to reach the 20-win mark as it finished this most recent campaign just 17-15, missing both the NCAA tournament and the NIT.

OHIO STATE AVERAGED ANNOUNCE ATTENDANCE LAST FIVE YEARS
SEASON AVG. ATTENDANCE
2016–17 12,324
2015–16 12,284* (includes two NIT games)
2014–15 14,648
2013–15 16,524
2012–13 16,522

In 19 home games this season, Ohio State’s average announced attendance was 12,324 per game. That figure is up slightly from the 12,284 from the 2015–16 season, but if you discount the two NIT games the Buckeyes hosted that season — which averaged just 6,442 per game because, well, they were NIT games — this was the fourth-straight season in which attendance for Ohio State home games decreased. Without those two NIT games, Ohio State’s average announced attendance was 12,899 for that 2015–16 campaign.

There was a slight decline in Big Ten games, too. Last season, Ohio State’s average announced attendance in league contests was 13,842 with a Feb. 16 game against Michigan featuring the largest home crowd of the league season with 17,088. This season, the Buckeyes’ average announced attendance was just 13,258 per game. The Jan. 15 win over Michigan State had the largest home crowd of the season: 17,449.

In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch at the end of last season, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said, essentially, the best way to fix the attendance declines was to win more games.

“Everybody is trying to analyze it,” Smith said then. “The bottom line is we need to win. That’s it.”
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If performance is similar, expect attendance to be similar. And if both of those become reality, there could be significant changes made within the program.

Entire article: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-...truggle-on-the-court-attendance-keeps-dipping

Old article....

Thad Matta receives extension with Ohio State through 2019
Matta, now 45, has done a pretty good job as head coach in Columbus, to say the least. They've won no national titles, but have been a contender year-in, year-out, winning the Big Ten's regular season five times in eight years and the conference's tournament three of those years. They were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament two years ago and made the Final Four for the first time. His record is 221-65 at Ohio State, and at No. 15 in the latest AP poll, they're certainly one of the better teams in the country again.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-bas...thad-matta-contract-extension-ohio-state-2019

It's amazing how fast things can change for the worse.....I'm thinking Matta better show some improvement in both performance and attendance in 2017-2018 or he may not be here through 2019.
 
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NFBuck said:
Basketball at tOSU will almost always be a challenge, but with the athletic department's resources, there's no reason it cannot be a consistent Top-15/Top-25 job. It's definitely better than it has been the last 2-3 years and than where it appears to be headed. We can afford to pay a coach a top-10 salary, and that will make it attractive. As attractive as a Sparty, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas? Hell no. But it can certainly be on par with the rest of the conference.

Under Matta, when things were humming, we benefitted from a lot of unusual circumstances. IU was nuked and had to totally rebuild. UK was suffering through the end of the Tubby/Gillispie years. scUM was in a decade-plus slumber. Purdue was up-and-down. We happened on a driven young coach who could recruit like a motherfucker, and it paid off. When Matta moves on, I hope we go the same route. Problem is, Archie was THE perfect candidate...young and driven, charismatic, and had the in-game coaching chops that Matta somewhat lacked. Now he goes to a conference rival. I'm sure in between now and when Matta moves on, other young guys will emerge. Maybe Mack down at Xavier wants to step up, though I certainly don't think that's a guarantee.

People will always look at Matta and think we have to replace what he did from 2006-12. That is flawed. Matta was the benefactor of a lot things that I covered above. I don't know that the next guy will get that luxury. Plus, it's a different game than it was 10 years ago. I don't know that we'll ever get another run where we win a bunch of conference titles and make a couple of final-fours over a few years. Maybe, but it'll be very, very difficult. But I don't think it's much of a challenge to top the last five years.
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Alright, just need to pile on- Matta's "recruiting chops" started with that class led by Conley and Oden from Indianapolis. Matta was an assistant and eventual head coach at Butler while those guys were in Jr. High down the road and he built a great great relationship with them early. Those guys played on Spiece Indy Heat AAU with Daequan Cook. It's not easy recruiting, but that Thad 5 came together in an alignment of the stars. Obviously, that run in 06-07 probably built up enough good will around Matta and the program to ride out some good classes that got us through 2012. Beyond that, the talent evaluation and development has just been dreadful.

Man, I feel terrible about all this. I've been a Matta fan since watching his bulldog face coach Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse each weekend. I know he could coach. He did more with less at Butler, then Xavier and even his first couple seasons in Columbus. It's not there anymore.
 
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NFBuck said:
Problem is, Archie was THE perfect candidate...young and driven, charismatic, and had the in-game coaching chops that Matta somewhat lacked.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing.....:nod:

OHSportsFan said:
Alright, just need to pile on- Matta's "recruiting chops" started with that class led by Conley and Oden from Indianapolis. Matta was an assistant and eventual head coach at Butler while those guys were in Jr. High down the road and he built a great great relationship with them early. Those guys played on Spiece Indy Heat AAU with Daequan Cook. It's not easy recruiting, but that Thad 5 came together in an alignment of the stars. Obviously, that run in 06-07 probably built up enough good will around Matta and the program to ride out some good classes that got us through 2012. Beyond that, the talent evaluation and development has just been dreadful.

Man, I feel terrible about all this. I've been a Matta fan since watching his bulldog face coach Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse each weekend. I know he could coach. He did more with less at Butler, then Xavier and even his first couple seasons in Columbus. It's not there anymore.
Click to expand...

You heard the expression:

upload_2017-3-27_19-0-46.jpeg

Well in Matta's case with his recruits lately, it seems to be "The whole is much less than the sum of the parts". He's getting some 4 & 5 star players: however, they are just aren't "doing it" as a team. You get a clue that something was broken in 2016 when Matta makes some comments like:

"No. 1, I said I'm tired of the B.S. I'm going back to coaching basketball. I'm going back to running this program the way we did when we got here," Matta said. "The second thing is some of you are going to transfer. You don't know it yet, but whatever you do don't come see me. Just shoot me a text, because I'm tired of looking at you. And we got rid of some guys that we needed to get rid of. We got rid of problems, but we kept solutions."

and 4 of the 5 guys in the 2015 class transferred out. I'm not sure who the problems were and who the solutions are; however, needless to say it still ain't fixed yet.

Let's hope Kaleb Wesson and Braxton Beverly can make a difference in 2017-2018. Matta's job at Ohio State may just well depend on it.
 
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Does anyone want to throw down straight up money they believe the buckeyes will make the tournament. Pretty sad when you are paying top dollar and aren't sniffing being competitive.
I had zero interest in watching, even on tv, this past season nor will I next season, waste of time. Used to be an alumni season ticket holder.
 
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greyscarlet said:
Does anyone want to throw down straight up money they believe the buckeyes will make the tournament. Pretty sad when you are paying top dollar and aren't sniffing being competitive.
I had zero interest in watching, even on tv, this past season nor will I next season, waste of time. Used to be an alumni season ticket holder.
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The guy on the left will. Give him a call.
 
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So called 5th best recruiting class in the country in 2015. Four guys bailed the first year, now Lyle is gone and possibly headed to jail. Meanwhile, we've got one of the highest paid coaches in the country fighting to avoid finishing dead last in the B1G. I don't know Thad personally. From what I've seen/heard I like him. But this is business, and business has turned very bad under his watch. I wouldn't have predicted it 5 years ago but it is what it is at this point.
 
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