Coaching searches are fun, right?
And Wednesday was a wild day in Ohio State's quest to replace Thad Matta — the winningest coach in program history.
ESPN reported late Wednesday evening Creighton's Greg McDermott was offered the Buckeyes' head coaching job. It is the only reported offer to this point, and it certainly came as a surprise to many who are following this closely.
McDermott wasn't on anyone's radar (mine included) when this search began. It's unclear right now if he was on Gene Smith's original list of top candidates, though you can bet if McDermott accepts the job offer Smith will say that he was. That's how those things go.
Right now, it appears McDermott is the top candidate, but how did we get here?
Our original list of candidates included all the popular names: Xavier's Chris Mack, Butler's Chris Holtmann, Cincinnati's Mick Cronin and more. There were even some longshot options like Arizona's Sean Miller and the Oklahoma City Thunder's Billy Donovan.
Most of those options were eliminated rather quickly. The Arizona president said Ohio State could hire Miller "over my dead body." Mack took himself out of the running with a simple tweet.
For some reason, there wasn't much chatter about Holtmann — who seemed like a logical candidate — but NBC Sports reported Holtmann withdrew his name from consideration Tuesday night. It'd be shocking if Ohio State didn't at least give him serious consideration for this position, though.
Current Ohio State assistant coach Chris Jent interviewed for the position Wednesday, according to Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch. Virginia Tech's Buzz Williams and West Virginia's Bob Huggins were also names tied to the opening, though it's unclear how seriously considered each was.
Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg became the hot name Wednesday. A source told Eleven Warriors Hoiberg was "someone to watch" going forward in Ohio State's search. Then, on Wednesday night, CBS Sports' Gary Parrish reported Hoiberg was a "real candidate" to land the job.
However, not long after the Hoiberg buzz started to become louder and louder, the Bulls coach put out a statement through the Chicago Tribune that effectively eliminated him from the search. There was real interest, though, despite what Hoiberg said publicly.
Which led us to Wednesday night, when Smith traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, to meet with McDermott. That's when the reported job offer presumably took place, though the Dispatch reported Smith returned to Columbus and McDermott was not with him.
Ohio State appears to be on the verge of having its next head coach. Now, we wait.
