Connor Lemons
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You’re Nuts: Which coaches would not be a good hire for the Ohio State men’s basketball team?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
There’s plenty of lists of good candidates on the internet already. Here’s who we think wouldn’t be good hires for this program.
Well, here we are. Ohio State has officially parted ways with head coach Chris Holtmann during his seventh season, as the Buckeyes are currently 14-11 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten.
Now that Holtmann is out of the picture, incoming athletic director Ross Bjork will spearhead the search for the next leader of the Ohio State men’s basketball program once he begins in March.
Last week, Connor and Justin looked ahead on the Buckeyes’ schedule, and tried to predict if this team will play spoiler to anyone in the Big Ten who needs to avoid a bad loss — since Ohio State is once again considered a bad loss. 84% of people sided with Connor, saying the Buckeyes would either lose all of their games, or if they beat anyone, it wouldn’t be a win that would impact anyone’s tounament chances. The other 16% sided with Justin, who for some reason is adamant Ohio State is going to beat Michigan State at Breslin in a few weeks.
Connor- 67
There are dozens of names floating around the internet who could be candidates for the position. Most are sitting power conference coaches. Some are former Ohio State assistants. Others are retired Hall of Famers who are now working for CBS. Plenty of good options.
But who isn’t a good option?
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Sam Greene
Let’s start with the good things about Mick Cronin. He’s a strong recruiter both domestically and internationally, even if some of the international recruits haven’t quite panned out this season. He’s shown the capability to win with both offensively and defensively-minded teams. He also spent 13 seasons at Cincinnati, where he went to the NCAA Tournament in each of his last nine seasons. So... he’s not not familiar with the midwest. In addition to Ohio State, he’s also been rumored to be a candidate for the Louisville job if it opens up once the season ends.
My hesitance with Cronin doesn’t have nearly as much to do with the credentials as it does his demeanor on the court and with the media, as well as his hefty buyout at UCLA. Throughout his career, Cronin has established a reputation as a hard-nosed, fiery coach who isn’t afraid to tell off his players and the officials. From the outside looking in, he doesn’t exactly look like a “player’s coach” even if he wins games. There’s been multiple times this season after UCLA losses where Cronin has either demeaned or embarassed media members, or just skipped the press conference altogether.
It doesn’t matter if you loved or hated Chris Holtmann, everyone agrees that the now-former head coach ran a program where players felt like they were part of a family. Holtmann treated his players like his own sons, and recruited kids who were easy to root for. He was almost always kind and thoughtful with the media, and made voluntarily extra appearances during the off-season. Something tells me Cronin doesn’t roll that way.
On top of that, Cronin has a $20 million-dollar buyout if he leaves before April 1. Since Ohio State is already paying Holtmann $12.8 million, it would be tough to pay multiple buyouts and then pay Cronin whatever his yearly salary would be. I do not see Ohio State doing that.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25288900/usa_today_22393961.jpg "NCAA Basketball: North Texas at Florida Atlantic")
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
I want to preface my answer by saying this really has nothing to do with his coaching ability. May is an awesome head coach with a proven track record and recent success in the NCAA Tournament, which is obviously a big deal to Ohio State fans.
For some background, if you are unfamiliar with the Florida Atlantic head coach, May is 120-65 as a head coach with an impressive 4-1 record in the NCAA Tournament. That is just one appearance, but it was a heck of a run in 2023.
May served as a student manager at Indiana under Bob Knight as an undergraduate from 1996 to 2000. He had video and administrative roles with both USC and Indiana before landing his first assistant coaching job at Eastern Michigan, where he was on staff for the 2005-06 season.
May followed Mike White to take an assistant coaching job at Florida, where he served from 2015 to 2018. He took the Florida Atlantic job in 2018, and it is his only head coaching job so far in his career.
The reason I am skeptical about going all in on May is the Indiana Hoosiers.
I fear he could be in Columbus for a short time. He is an Indiana guy who was born in the Hoosier State and learned under Bob Knight. If the Mike Woodson era would come to an end soon, May would be the first call Indiana makes. And no matter where he is or how long he has been there, I think there is merit to May leaving and going to Indiana.
So, if you hire him, I truly think there is a chance you could be doing a head coaching search again in a year or two. Similar to Mario Cristobal when he went from Oregon to Miami.
Maybe Woodson will turn it around at Indiana, or maybe May will not leave after a couple of years, but there are other coaches out there that have a similar resume or even better that you will not have this concern with.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
There’s plenty of lists of good candidates on the internet already. Here’s who we think wouldn’t be good hires for this program.
Well, here we are. Ohio State has officially parted ways with head coach Chris Holtmann during his seventh season, as the Buckeyes are currently 14-11 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten.
Now that Holtmann is out of the picture, incoming athletic director Ross Bjork will spearhead the search for the next leader of the Ohio State men’s basketball program once he begins in March.
Last week, Connor and Justin looked ahead on the Buckeyes’ schedule, and tried to predict if this team will play spoiler to anyone in the Big Ten who needs to avoid a bad loss — since Ohio State is once again considered a bad loss. 84% of people sided with Connor, saying the Buckeyes would either lose all of their games, or if they beat anyone, it wouldn’t be a win that would impact anyone’s tounament chances. The other 16% sided with Justin, who for some reason is adamant Ohio State is going to beat Michigan State at Breslin in a few weeks.
After 139 weeks:
Connor- 67
Justin- 53
Other- 15
(There have been four ties)
There are dozens of names floating around the internet who could be candidates for the position. Most are sitting power conference coaches. Some are former Ohio State assistants. Others are retired Hall of Famers who are now working for CBS. Plenty of good options.
But who isn’t a good option?
Today’s Question: Which coach would not be good hire for Ohio State?
Connor: Mick Cronin
Let’s start with the good things about Mick Cronin. He’s a strong recruiter both domestically and internationally, even if some of the international recruits haven’t quite panned out this season. He’s shown the capability to win with both offensively and defensively-minded teams. He also spent 13 seasons at Cincinnati, where he went to the NCAA Tournament in each of his last nine seasons. So... he’s not not familiar with the midwest. In addition to Ohio State, he’s also been rumored to be a candidate for the Louisville job if it opens up once the season ends.
My hesitance with Cronin doesn’t have nearly as much to do with the credentials as it does his demeanor on the court and with the media, as well as his hefty buyout at UCLA. Throughout his career, Cronin has established a reputation as a hard-nosed, fiery coach who isn’t afraid to tell off his players and the officials. From the outside looking in, he doesn’t exactly look like a “player’s coach” even if he wins games. There’s been multiple times this season after UCLA losses where Cronin has either demeaned or embarassed media members, or just skipped the press conference altogether.
It doesn’t matter if you loved or hated Chris Holtmann, everyone agrees that the now-former head coach ran a program where players felt like they were part of a family. Holtmann treated his players like his own sons, and recruited kids who were easy to root for. He was almost always kind and thoughtful with the media, and made voluntarily extra appearances during the off-season. Something tells me Cronin doesn’t roll that way.
On top of that, Cronin has a $20 million-dollar buyout if he leaves before April 1. Since Ohio State is already paying Holtmann $12.8 million, it would be tough to pay multiple buyouts and then pay Cronin whatever his yearly salary would be. I do not see Ohio State doing that.
Justin: Dusty May
I want to preface my answer by saying this really has nothing to do with his coaching ability. May is an awesome head coach with a proven track record and recent success in the NCAA Tournament, which is obviously a big deal to Ohio State fans.
For some background, if you are unfamiliar with the Florida Atlantic head coach, May is 120-65 as a head coach with an impressive 4-1 record in the NCAA Tournament. That is just one appearance, but it was a heck of a run in 2023.
May served as a student manager at Indiana under Bob Knight as an undergraduate from 1996 to 2000. He had video and administrative roles with both USC and Indiana before landing his first assistant coaching job at Eastern Michigan, where he was on staff for the 2005-06 season.
May followed Mike White to take an assistant coaching job at Florida, where he served from 2015 to 2018. He took the Florida Atlantic job in 2018, and it is his only head coaching job so far in his career.
The reason I am skeptical about going all in on May is the Indiana Hoosiers.
I fear he could be in Columbus for a short time. He is an Indiana guy who was born in the Hoosier State and learned under Bob Knight. If the Mike Woodson era would come to an end soon, May would be the first call Indiana makes. And no matter where he is or how long he has been there, I think there is merit to May leaving and going to Indiana.
So, if you hire him, I truly think there is a chance you could be doing a head coaching search again in a year or two. Similar to Mario Cristobal when he went from Oregon to Miami.
Maybe Woodson will turn it around at Indiana, or maybe May will not leave after a couple of years, but there are other coaches out there that have a similar resume or even better that you will not have this concern with.
Continue reading...