On March 8, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith released a statement regarding men's basketball head coach Thad Matta.
“While we are not currently where we aspire to be with our performance on the court, Thad understands better than anyone that component has to improve," the statement said. "I am confident in his leadership to return the program to the winning ways that we have all enjoyed during his 13-year tenure."
“We have had tremendous success with Thad as our basketball coach. His commitment to developing young men in a holistic way and running our program with the highest of integrity continue to be hallmarks of his leadership.”
That, for all intents and purposes, squashed any potential rumblings that a coaching change was going to happen in the offseason. Ohio State was near the end of the worst year in Matta's tenure — the Buckeyes finished just 17-15 and missed postseason play — but Smith's comments all but assured Matta would be back for Year No. 14.
On Monday, just three months later, Smith sat alongside Matta at a table inside the practice gym at Value City Arena and announced Matta would no longer be Ohio State's head coach.
"We came to a mutual understanding, and it was time for a change in the basketball program," Smith said. "This may be a surprise to many, but I think it's the right thing for our program at the right time."
The decision to part ways with Matta wasn't necessarily the surprising part. After all, Ohio State missed the NCAA tournament the last two seasons and the program saw a decline in wins each of the last six seasons. Matta won more than anybody ever had in program history and probably deserved one more chance to right the ship, but his departure seemed inevitable.
“No time is optimal, but obviously, this time is not the best. I need to be sensitive with what I am dealing with in this window of time.”– Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith
Matta raised the standard of Ohio State basketball and ultimately couldn't live up to it the last couple of seasons. He truly was a victim of his own success.
What made Monday's announcement so stunning, though, was the timing. Very rarely do college basketball programs — especially ones like Ohio State — decide to make coaching changes this late in the process. It's the first week of June. There isn't a lot of time here and Smith admitted as much.
"No time is optimal, but obviously, this time is not the best," he said. "I need to be sensitive with what I am dealing with in this window of time."
Ohio State is an interesting job and there will surely be some strong candidates. But with the current state of the Buckeyes' roster coupled with the decision to make this change so late, it's not exactly an ideal situation for a coach. Smith's task of finding an adequate replacement is a challenging one.
If he doesn't land the right coach, this could be viewed as quite an epic fail. After all, Archie Miller, the man who was believed to be Matta's successor for a long time, is now the head coach at Indiana. Had Smith decided to part ways with Matta following the season, perhaps Miller is coaching in Columbus and not Bloomington.
But Smith has been around the block and it seems likely he's already got a replacement in mind — if not lined up. Smith said Monday he did not anticipate hiring anybody on an interim basis; this is expected to be a splash when announced.
Either way, one of the most successful eras in Ohio State basketball history is officially over. Matta wasn't ready to say if he was done coaching for good, but with his well-documented health issues, it wouldn't be surprising to see him take some time off to try and get healthy. In fact, he said that was goal No. 1, to get healthy.
"I want what's best for the program," Matta said. "If it's not me being here, I understand that and I respect it."
After 13 years, Matta is no longer the head coach at Ohio State. Smith said his national search will begin immediately — though it probably already started before he and Matta stepped up to that podium Monday afternoon.
Timing is everything, and Ohio State missed out on a potential home-run hire in Miller. It's up to Smith to try and hit another.
