How decling attendance will affect Ohio State basketball recruiting

The Ohio State basketball program has recruited remarkably well with Chris Holtmann at the helm. He’s made multiple top-ten classes and has brought in some real talent. Perhaps the best player he’s brought in so far is Bruce Thornton, who has been the best player for the Buckeyes in each of the last two years.

As we know, that great recruiting hasn’t led to on-court success. The Buckeyes have yet to make the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Holtmann. They didn’t make it last year and this year looks like a fading effort as well. In turn, the poor performance of the team has affected attendance at the Schott.

Ohio State basketball recruiting will suffer because of declining attendance

Last year, the Ohio State basketball program had its worst average attendance. That makes sense when you consider that the Buckeyes only went 5-15 in Big Ten play. The 2023 class had already been signed by then, so Holtmann still brought in the 8th-best class in the country. None of those freshmen are contributing in any major way this year.

Attendance has further declined this year, dropping another 13.5% for home games. It’s clear that recruiting has been affected by both attendance numbers. The Buckeyes only have two recruits committed for 2024 and it’s the 42nd-rated class in the country. If you’re not putting a winning product on display, fans aren’t going to show up. Recruits want to play in front of a lot of fans.

With the Ohio State Buckeyes sliding yet again, I wouldn’t expect the attendance to improve much. Recruits also won’t commit to a coach who doesn’t have a future with the program. Chris Holtmann’s job status is on thin ice with how the team is trending. No matter how much NIL money you throw at someone, a recruit won’t sign up for that.

Personally, I’ve been to three times more women’s basketball games than I have men’s games in the last four years. They are actually good and they play a much more fun brand of basketball than the men do.