This story came out on Cleveland.com today. People here seem interested in what Thad has to say about the transfer situation so I thought I'd post it. I pasted his direct quotes below.

"The funny thing is as a coach, you have a real good idea before it happens that it's going to happen," Matta said of the transfers. "I think we've built this program on guys who wanted to be a part of Ohio State, that cherished and appreciated the opportunity. Not saying that those kids did not, but you look at the best teams I've ever coached here and the camaraderie those guys had not only for the program but for each other. I feel great with the guys we have coming back and the bond that they have in terms of the future of the program."

"There's a change in times, getting to know every single thing about each young man and the people around them, that's not as easy as one might think," Matta said. "By the same token when we took those guys we felt very comfortable in terms of who they were and that sort of thing. The fact that it didn't work, it is what it is, but that's kind of trending. We wish those guys the best and I think they'll all do well."

"I feel very comfortable and very confident that the right guys are coming back, and I think we've got the right guys coming in," Matta said. "I think they're coming to Ohio State for the right reasons. We're gonna put the team on the floor next year that's going to be the guys who want to be here, that's worth more than the points we lost this year if those guys didn't want to be here."

The way I read it he basically says that they didn't want to be here, and he's looking forward to the team that is coming back. Go Bucks.

Edit: Looks like he's getting around today, also talked to the Dispatch, Matta quotes below:

“The No. 1 thing is I did not build this program – the players who played here built this program,” he said. “I look at the bonds that guys that have gone through it with us at Ohio State have right now. The one thing that I want is I want to put a team on the floor for Ohio State that our fans look at and say, ‘Hey, these guys want to be here. They want to wear the Scarlet and Gray’ and the fact that three guys have chosen not to – whether it’s right or wrong – there’s probably going to be over 600 college transfers when it’s all said and done.

“We’re very confident in terms of how we treat our guys, what we do with our guys and what they become.”

“To say that we were surprised that those three guys were going to transfer – we knew that a long time ago,” he said. “It’s not like today I’m sitting here saying, ‘Oh my God, they just left.’ We had a real good inclination that this was going to happen.”

“I’ve never had two that were the same,” Matta said. “It’s not as easy as everybody thinks.”

“I want to make sure that we do get the right fit for what we need,” he said. “Our core is back and I think from that perspective we move forward and try to find the kind of guys that have a special kind of connection to the university.”