Ohio State basketball: Can Chris Holtmann’s recruiting save him?

The Ohio State basketball team had another embarrassing loss on Tuesday night. They blew an 18-point lead for the second time this season. This time, though, it was at home. What’s worse is that it was to an Indiana team that got booed off their home floor last weekend after a terrible loss to Penn State.

Chris Holtmann had an interesting press conference in which you could tell he knows he’s in trouble. The one thing that he’s got to hang his hat on is his track record on the recruiting trail. He does a fantastic job of bringing in top talent. The question now is that enough to save him from being fired at the end of the year?

Can Chris Holtmann’s recruiting record help save his job as head coach of the Ohio State basketball team?

If you look at Holtmann’s recruiting classes in his first five seasons as head coach of the Buckeyes, his class ranks were 27, 14, 47, 49, 8, and 8. As you can see, he had three top-15 classes. Even some of the classes where he didn’t he got high-level players. Duane Washington was one of the players in those lower-rated classes and he made the NBA.

But if you look at where Holtmann’s class is for 2024, it’s a class of just two prospects. It’s also rated 42nd in the country. If you add the fact that Holtmann had the 8th best recruiting class in each of the last two years and had meltdowns in each season, you can make an argument that his coaching is even worse than originally thought.

Things are bad in Columbus. Almost every Ohio State basketball fan I talk to says it’s time to end the Holtmann era. Tuesday night might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s time for the Buckeyes to move on and find someone else to lead this once-proud program.