Things have been awfully painful to watch this season if you’re an Ohio State basketball fan. The team started out on the right foot and looked like a young team that could figure things out, showing signs of possessing the talent and effort needed to make a run in the Big Ten.
But then January hit and the wheels fell off of the proverbial bus that’s now headed nowhere sunny. The defense hasn’t been a strong suit all year, and the offense that was once the most efficient in the country has sputtered and smoked in the halfcourt with a horrendous assist-to-turnover ratio and lack of ball and player movement.
Heck, the Buckeyes have been losing skid stoppers in the wrong way for teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin that have gotten positive results in Value City Arena after looking lost themselves. The latest was a 65-60 home loss to Wisconsin on Thursday night.
There’s not a lot of good to point to, and seven years into Chris Holtmann’s tenure, Ohio State has yet to win a Big Ten regular season or conference title, hasn’t advanced out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and has seen significant roster turnover almost every year.
It’s all led to a fanbase that is extremely disgruntled and indifferent as the season progresses. The “hot seat” comments, desires, and demands have gone from a whisper to a loud roar in Columbus.
But don’t tell Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith that. In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch, the man in charge of OSU athletics threw his weight behind the job that Holtmann is doing.
“I’m confident in what Chris is doing,” Smith told the Dispatch. “Chris is our coach of the future. He’s doing an outstanding job.”
To date, Holtmann has steered Ohio State to at least 20 wins in each season and made the NCAA Tournament every year aside from 2020 when it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those two streaks are destined to come to an end with OSU sitting at 11-11 and 3-8 in the Big Ten, with just nine regular-season games remaining.
Smith pointed to the youth of this year’s team as a reason for the struggles and seems to be willing to wait things out with development and growth.
“These are young guys,” Smith said. “I really look forward to them continuing to grow and get better. There’s a lot of games left. We’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Ohio State's Gene Smith: 'Chris (Holtmann) is our coach of the future' https://t.co/AUEMrAIIGU
— Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) February 2, 2023
It’s true that the core of the team is young, and there’s also help on the way. Holtmann and staff signed the No. 8 class in the country for 2022 according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, and have another good one coming in that’s currently ranked as No. 6 in the country.
One way or another, with the layers of talent coming in and the expectations it will bring, there won’t be any excuses in the near future. Smith’s response will either be prophetic or will have to take on a different tone in another year or two.
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