Video: Thad Matta Says Ohio State Got 'Rid of Some Guys We Needed to Get Rid Of'

By D.J. Byrnes on July 14, 2016 at 5:07 pm
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The Ohio State men's basketball team endured a talent exodus this past season. Austin Grandstaff, Mickey Mitchell, Daniel Giddens, and A.J. Harris — all members of Ohio State's 2015 consensus Top 5 recruiting class — pulled the rip coords on their Buckeye careers after one season (or in Grandstaff's case, less than one).

As it turns out, it was all part of Matta's plan. He elaborated on it while speaking at the Joe Mortellaro Golf Classic on July 11th at the Scioto Reserve Country Club in Powell, Ohio.

In the above video taken by ThisWeek Sports, Matta explains what he told his team after it suffered a 74-66 home defeat at the hands of the Florida Gators in the second round of the 2016 N.I.T.

I like the guys we've got in here. We're going through a transition where we lost three guys. After the Florida game this year, I told our guys two things after the game.

Number one, I'm tired of the B.S. I'm going to coaching basketball. I'm going back to running this program the way we did when we got here.

The second thing is, some of you are going to transfer. You don't know it yet, but whatever you do—don't come see me. Just shoot me a text, because I'm tired of looking at you.

And we got rid of some guys we needed to get rid of. We got rid of problems, but we kept solutions.

Looks like Matta has his swagger back entering the 2016 season, which will only delight Ohio State fans.

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