Ohio State Offers Creighton's Greg McDermott Head Coaching Position, Per ESPN Report

By Tim Shoemaker on June 7, 2017 at 9:15 pm
Creighton coach Greg McDermott.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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Ohio State has offered its head coaching position to Creighton's Greg McDermott, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman. McDermott met with Ohio State brass Wednesday night.

McDermott, 52, has been the head coach at Creighton since 2010–11. He has a record of 165–81 in seven seasons. Under McDermott's direction, Creighton has four NCAA tournament appearances in seven years. The Blue Jays finished 25-10 this past season and lost to Rhode Island in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  

Prior to his stint at Creighton, McDermott had previous head coaching stops at Iowa State, Northern Iowa, North Dakota State and Wayne State. He has a career coaching record of 445–276 in 23 seasons. McDermott has been to the NCAA tournament seven times but has never advanced to the Sweet 16. 

Should he accept, McDermott would replace Thad Matta, who was let go Monday after 13 seasons as Ohio State's head coach. 

Matta went 337–123 during his tenure at Ohio State. Under his direction, the Buckeyes won five Big Ten championships, four Big Ten tournament titles and qualified for the NCAA tournament nine times. Ohio State made five Sweet 16 appearances under Matta, three Elite Eights and a pair of Final Fours.

Matta is the winningest coach in program history.

However, the Buckeyes missed the NCAA tournament each of the last two seasons. Ohio State finished just 17-15 overall this past year — Matta's worst season of his head coaching career — and missed postseason play all together.

Matta was expected to return to lead the Buckeyes for the 2017–18 season, but Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith opted to make the change Monday after a second-straight offseason filled with player departures and recruiting misses. 

"We came to a mutual understanding, and it was time for a change in the basketball program," Smith said during a Monday press conference. "This may be a surprise to many, but I think it's the right thing for our program at the right time."

Doug McDermott's Head Coaching Record
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
1994–95 Wayne State 14–13      
1995–96 Wayne State 12–15      
1996–97 Wayne State 21–7      
1997–98 Wayne State 20–7      
1998–99 Wayne State 23–5      
1999–00 Wayne State 26–6 15–3 T–1st  
WAYNE STATE 116–53 (.686) 15–3 (.833)  
2000–01 North Dakota State 15–11 7–11 8th  
NORTH DAKOTA STATE 15–11 (.577) 7–11 (.389)  
2001–02 Northern Iowa 14–15 8–10 7th  
2002–03 Northern Iowa 11–17 7–11 7th  
2003–04 Northern Iowa 21–10 12–6 T–2nd NCAA First Round
2004–05 Northern Iowa 21–11 11–7 T–3rd NCAA First Round
2005–06 Northern Iowa 23–10 11–7 T–5th NCAA First Round
NORTHERN IOWA 90–63 (.588) 49–41 (.544)  
2006–07 Iowa State 15–16 6–10 T–7th  
2007–08 Iowa State 14–18 4–12 11th  
2008–09 Iowa State 15–17 4–12 10th  
2009–10 Iowa State 15–17 4–12 11th  
IOWA STATE 59–68 (.465) 18–46 (.281)  
2010–11 Creighton 23–16 10–8 4th CBI Finals
2011–12 Creighton 29–6 14–4 2nd NCAA Round of 32
2012–13 Creighton 28–8 13–5 1st NCAA Round of 32
2013–14 Creighton 27–8 14–4 2nd NCAA Round of 32
2014–15 Creighton 14–19 4–14 T–9th  
2015–16 Creighton 20–15 9–9 6th NIT Quarterfinals
2016–17 Creighton 25–10 10–8 T–3rd NCAA First Round
CREIGHTON 165–81 (.671) 36–34 (.514)  
TOTAL 445–276 (.617)  
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