The Ohio State basketball program is in need of a new head coach after they decided to fire Chris Holtmann on Wednesday. It came on the heels of yet another road loss, this time at the hands of Wisconsin. It’s been a long time coming. Fans have been fed up with Holtmann ever since the new year started.
While Jake Diebler will take over for Holtmann for the rest of this season, he won’t be the head coach next season. Ross Bjork, who is leading the search in coordination with current AD Gene Smith, will hire from outside the program. The Buckeyes will have someone new coaching them next season. With that in mind, here are three names to keep in mind with the new coaching search.
These are three names the Ohio State basketball program will look at
1. Dusty May
I’m a big fan of Dusty May. May is the head coach of Florida Atlantic. He took the Owls to the Final Four last year, which was the first year May had made the NCAA Tournament as a head coach. His team will be back in the NCAA Tournament again this year as they are a top-25 team.
May doesn’t have any direct ties to Ohio or the Ohio State basketball program, but he did coach under Bobby Knight. Knight played for Ohio State back in the 1960s. May is just 47 years old too, so he could do it for a while. His buyout isn’t too bad for the Buckeyes either with it being just under $2 million.
2. Lamont Paris
Lamont Paris is probably the favorite in the clubhouse because he’s an Ohio native. He’s from Findlay, Ohio, and has coached in the Big Ten before. He was an assistant under Bo Ryan at Wisconsin. Right now, he’s the head coach of South Carolina and doing a great job in his second year coaching the Gamecocks.
After a poor first year with a roster that wasn’t great, Paris has the Gamecocks at 21-3 right now. They are 9-2 in the SEC and look like a really solid team. He also coaches a former Ohio State basketball player in Meechie Johnson, who has been killing it. He would be an excellent choice for the Buckeyes.
3. Greg McDermott
Do you remember who the other finalist for the Ohio State job was when Holtmann was hired? It was Greg McDermott. McDermott was in deep talks with the Buckeyes in 2017 and apparently finished second to Holtmann. Expect his name to be thrown around a lot now that Holtmann is fired.
McDermott has been the head coach at Creighton forever now. He’s been in Omaha since 2010. While he hasn’t made a Final Four, he made the Elite Eight just last season. He has a track record of winning at a place that doesn’t have a lot of tradition. The Buckeyes need someone like that who can develop talent and coach them up.
Ohio State likely won’t finalize a hire until the end of the season, but these are three names that are bound to come up.
