Despite a current losing streak of three games, it’s been a season of exceeded expectations for Ohio State during the 2020-2021 season. With that, usually accolades and awards follow for the man steering the ship, and that would be head coach Chris Holtmann in this case.
And sure enough, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Holtmann as one of ten finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year on Friday. The news follows the Buckeye head coach first being named to the late-season Naismith Coach of the Year watchlist back in mid-February.
Ohio State, picked by many to finish in the middle of the Big Ten conference at best, had been near the top of the league until recently. It still sits in fifth place in the conference but is on pace to receive a top-three seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Holtmann has already taken home several coach of the year awards in his career. He won the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018, Big East Coach of the Year in 2017 at Butler, and Big South Coach of the Year in 2013 at Gardner-Webb.
Coach Holtmann has been named a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Jx2LDynBfK
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 5, 2021
The other ten coaches that are up for the award are Darian DeVries of Drake, Baylor’s Scott Drew, Mark Few of Gonzaga, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, Juwan Howard of Michigan, West Virginia’s Bob Huggins, Porter Moser of Loyola Chicago, Arkansas’ Eric Musselman, and Nate Oats of Alabama.
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