Ohio St. fires guys’s basketball coach Holtmann

Jeff Borzello, ESPN

• Personnel WriterFeb 14, 2024, 12:53 PM ET Close Basketball recruiting expert.
• Joined ESPN in 2014.
• Graduate of University of Delaware.Ohio State has actually fired Chris Holtmann, ending his period as the Buckeyes ‘guys’s basketball coach just shy of his seventh season in Columbus.The school revealed the firing Wednesday and said associate head coach

Jake Diebler will serve as the Buckeyes’interim head coach for the rest of the season.”I want to express my gratitude toward Chris for the first-rate program, and the well-respected program, he has run here at Ohio State, “outgoing Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said in a declaration.”He and his better half, Lori, are wonderful individuals. I thank each of them for their seven years here in Columbus and I wish them well. “Holtmann had four years staying on his agreement, which ran through the 2027-28 season. Ohio State still owes Holtmann more than $14 million in guaranteed income, sources told ESPN.Editor’s Picks New athletic director Ross Bjork will lead the look for Holtmann’s replacement. Bjork will not formally begin as Ohio State’s AD till July, but the school announced Wednesday that he will start an interim function in the athletic department on March 1 as a senior adviser to Smith.The Buckeyes lost for the ninth time in 11 games Tuesday with their 62-54 loss at Wisconsin– a defeat that dropped the Buckeyes to 4-10 in the Big 10 and 14-11 overall.Holtmann led Butler to 3 straight NCAA tournaments before Ohio State hired him to replace Thad Matta in 2017. He began his period at Ohio State with a 25-9 (15-3 in the Big 10 )record in Year 1 and went to back-to-back NCAA competitions– and won a tournament game each year. The Buckeyes made a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament in 2021 but suffered a first-round upset to 15-seed Oral Roberts, then advanced to the second round in 2022. Ohio State took a huge action back last season, however, finishing 16-19 overall and 5-15 in the Big Ten. And regardless of beginning 12-2 this season, the Buckeyes have actually dropped to next-to-last in the Big 10 standings.Ohio State’s struggles on the roadway and in the month of January have actually been well recorded.

The Buckeyes have not won a roadway game because Jan. 1, 2023, and they’re 18-29 over the past 6 seasons in the month of January.Holtmann began his coaching career as an assistant at Department III Geneva College and moved up the ladder before taking

over as the head coach at Gardner-Webb. He took the Runnin ‘Bulldogs from 11 wins in Year 1 to a second-place Huge South surface in his 3rd season, then left to sign up with Butler’s staff as an assistant under Brandon Miller. When Miller took a leave of lack, Holtmann was promoted to interim head coach and was provided the irreversible job after just 3 months.