Sources have indicated Thad Matta will coach 1 more year then retire … announcement coming at 2 p.m. with a press conference with Thad and Gene Smith
Can’t help recruiting unless a successor is being names ahead of time.
Looks like we need to fire up the Buckeye Light to summon GhostsofSt.JohnArena.
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I feel like everyone forgets how ridiculously good OSU was for a few years there. Basically the class of the Big Ten… then everything spiraled out of control over the last 3-4 years. Hard to explain and I really think Thad’s back plays a big part in all of it.
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Yeah, couldn’t draw it up much worse for OSU recruiting. Maybe everyone saw the writing on the wall and it was too late to do anything now so they make the announcement so that the fans don’t spend all year moaning and instead thank Thad for his decade of dominance. That OSU roster won’t be very appealing, but obviously it’s a very good job.
Hey, maybe a job for Tom Crean? I wonder if Jimmy would visit their locker room at halftime.
Of course, Mack makes a lot of sense.
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Hot Take: that could very well be a factor in the final year given to Matta. If there is a successor that is entering a contract year (or who will have a reduction in their buyout amount), this could help the timelines match up and give Matta a farewell tour (albeit with a roster that isn’t very potent).
So, nothing about him retiring, and he is gone right away. Gotta think Mick Cronin and Chris Mack are two of the top candidates for the job.
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Wow, so Gene just hit the trap door and Matta’s gone. Seems like there was a better way to give the guy a softer landing, especially if health is a factor there.
Matta is helping with the coaching search, too? This is very weird.
When you think about those years with Matta, Izzo, and Ryan at the top of their games and Beilein, Crean, and Painter having theirs teams really strong for significant periods, the conference was very strong. (And that’s not even mentioning guys like Tubby Smith.) And OSU was the best program in the B1G for a solid 8-year stretch - 5 conference championships and a 2nd place finish and 5 conference tournament championships, one NCAA runner up and another Final Four.
It sure seems like health had something to do with it. I mean, apparently the guy couldn’t take off his pants or shoes. Hard to compete like that, even just with the mental drain.
But unless Gene Smith already knows who the coach is going to be, he probably didn’t handle this right. Archie Miller and a bunch of other candidates are gone and the spring signing period is over. Would’ve been better just to do it immediately after the season.
LOL!! They should probably add Steve Kerr and Greg Popovich to the list… Also I hear Phil Jackson is looking to make his way back into coaching
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Insider = Random BuckNut fan
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Yeah, no way on that list (maybe outside shot at Bennett?). But it would be pretty amazing if OSU wound up with both Florida coaches that beat them in those championship games.
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LOL at that list, but I am very sad to see Matta go. He may have been good at beating us, but that program had turned into a reliably mediocre crap fest in recent years. Player development at OSU has been HORRIBLE and it’s been mind-boggling that everyone didn’t focus on that. Class after class of guys who never improved one whit.
Hard not see Chris Mack as a legit possibility and that’s kind of scary.
Gene Smith doing it the OSU way - no sacred cows there.
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The only one on that list that is remotely possible IMO is Tony Bennett.
Mack has gotta be the front runner.
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I push back against this. OSU was great when they had overwhelming talent - Oden/Conley, I could have coached to a damn final, and Sullinger was a beast in college. He couldn’t even do much with Russell. No one ever got better at that program at a certain point, and that can’t all be excused by his health. To me, unless Matta was able to have an overwhelming talent advantage via recruiting, he wasn’t far from mediocrity as a coach. I can’t believe how little they did with some of the players they managed to land. That’s on the HC, or at least on him for not hiring a good staff (although some parts of it have been stable for a looong time). As a basketball head, I’ve been appalled by how little Matta’s gotten out of some of his players and how little he did for their games.
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It seems like, from a few boards, that MSU fans are afraid of OSU poaching Fife. But I’d think OSU would want an established D1 coach. Also wonder if Fife is just waiting out Izzo’s retirement.
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When Michigan was building its program under Beilein, OSU was the measuring stick of the Big Ten. The most consistently dominant program. That 2012 OSU home game really stands out as getting over the hump and beating them.
Obviously he missed the mark on a few classes over the last few years, but they consistently had the most talented teams in the Big Ten and have the Final Fours, Big Ten titles and Big Ten Tourney titles to back it up IMO.
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