Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball

The Ohio State men's basketball team represents The Ohio State University in NCAA Division I college basketball competition. The Buckeyes are a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes won their only National Championship in 1960 and have made a total of 21 NCAA Tournament appearances (plus four additional appearances that were later rescinded). The Buckeyes share a classic rivalry with the Michigan Wolverines, in which OSU has a 83–70 series lead. The Ohio State University is one of only two teams (the other being Villanova) to make an NCAA tournament appearance every decade since the 1930s.

The Buckeyes play their home games at Jerome Schottenstein Center which opened in 1998. The official capacity of the center is 19,200. Ohio State ranks 18th in the nation in average home attendance.

Thad Matta was named the head coach of Ohio State in 2004 to replace coach Jim O'Brien after being involved in NCAA violations which cost Ohio State over 113 wins between 1998 and 2002.

Team history

Early years and Olsen era (1898–1958)

The first basketball team at the Ohio State University was formed in 1898, playing their first game against East High. Sparing success followed the Buckeyes throughout their time as an independent school. In the year 1912, some thirteen years after forming their first basketball team, the Buckeyes joined the Big Nine Conference, which would eventually be known as the Big Ten Conference. Within the first years in the Big Ten conference, the Buckeyes were not able to mount a sustained run and continued to waiver inside the conference standings, never finishing higher than second in the conference standings^[1]. In 1923, Harold Olsen became head coach for the Buckeyes, launching the longest basketball coaching dynasty for OSU (24 seasons) Harold Olsen began to see success at Ohio State with the Buckeyes first conference championship during the 1922–1923 season. The Olsen era is also highlighted by appearing in the final game for the first ever NCAA Championship Tournament in 1939 where the Buckeyes lost to Oregon 33–46. The Buckeyes would make three more Final Four appearances under Olsen, along with winning five Big Ten championships. Following Harold Olsen as head coach Tippy Dye and Floyd Stahl made their stints with the Buckeyes. While not seeing the same amount of success as Olsen did, Dye and Stahl with one NCAA Tournament appearance between the two men. With the closing of the 1950s, the Ohio State basketball team was not considered a national powerhouse and continued to grow and develop and led to the hiring of a man who would change basketball at Ohio State and bring national fame to the university.

Success and Fred Taylor era (1959–1997)

Of all other Buckeye coaches, it was Fred Taylor who would give Ohio State basketball its greatest claim to fame. With the hiring of Taylor in 1958, not much was expected following an 11–11 season during the 1958–1959 season. However in 1960, the second year coach, Taylor, and All-American player, Jerry Lucas, led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Championship Title, defeating California 75–55 in the final game. The 1960 championship season is the only NCAA Tournament championship that the Buckeyes have compiled since that date. Taylor's Buckeyes continued their dominance by being the runner-up the following two seasons, and making a total of five tournament appearances during Taylor's 18 seasons tenure. With the departure of his championship team, Taylor began to see teams accustomed to Ohio State basketball of the past. Taylor's last season at Ohio State in 1976 saw the Buckeyes going 6–20, the worst record only to be eclipsed by the team in 1995. Taylor also achieved seven conference titles and an impressive overall winning percentage of over 65%. Past the Taylor era, Ohio State saw Eldon Miller, Gary Williams, and Randy Ayers took the reins as head coach. Between 1976 and 1997 the Buckeyes made the NCAA Tournament only eight times, while being crowned conference champions only twice.

Jim O'Brien and NCAA violations (1998–2003)

In 1997, Jim O'Brien was hired to replace head coach Randy Ayers. During his seven years as head coach, O'Brien drove the team to four 20+ win seasons, two Big Ten regular-season co-championships, the 2002 Big Ten Tournament Championship, and a school record four-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Controversy erupted when Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger fired O'Brien over alleged NCAA rules violations. A two-year NCAA investigation found that player Boban Savovic had received improper benefits and committed academic fraud while he played for Ohio State. On March 10, 2006, the NCAA gave Ohio State three years' probation and ordered it to pay back all tournament money earned from 1999–2002 when Boban Savovic was on the Buckeyes' roster. In addition, Ohio State had to remove all references to team accomplishments from those years including a 1999 visit to the Final Four.

Thad Matta era (2004–present)

In 2004 the Ohio State Buckeyes named Thad Matta as the new head coach, and he rapidly produced a promising Buckeye team. Under his leadership, OSU has already claimed four Big Ten Conference Titles, three Conference Tournament championships, and five NCAA tournament appearances, going as far as the championship game in 2007 where the Buckeyes lost to Florida 84–75. In 2008, despite having lost four starters for the second year in a row, including three first-round NBA Draft picks, the Buckeyes won the NIT, defeating UMASS, 92–85 at Madison Square Garden. In the 2010 NCAA tournament they beat UC-Santa Barbara in the first round 68-51. The next round they beat Georgia Tech 75-66, but went on to lose to Tennessee 76-73 in the Sweet 16. Matta's winning percentages for overall (78.6%) and conference (72.9%) are better than any previous Buckeye coach with more than two seasons. In 2010-11.

Facilities

The Ohio State Buckeyes presently play their home games in 19,200-seat Jerome Schottenstein Center. The first official home court for the Buckeyes was the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum. Constructed in 1918, the Buckeyes called this arena home between the years 1920 to 1955. The facility had a capacity of 7,000 people.

In 1955, a new facility was built on the campus of Ohio State named the St. John Arena named after Lynn St. John, an Ohio State basketball coach and athletic director. This building, while hosting the men's basketball team, also hosted (and still to this day hosts) volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling. The capacity of St. John Arena is 13,276. This building is the only Buckeye arena to serve as home for an Ohio State men's basketball championship team in 1960.

With the aging St. John Arena over 40 years old, the Ohio State University decided to build the Schottnstein Center to hold men's and women's basketball as well as hockey. It was completed in 1998.

Coaches

The Buckeyes have had 14 coaches in their 110-year history. Thad Matta is the current coach. The only Ohio State coach to win a national championship was Fred Taylor in 1960.

Current coaching staff

• Thad Matta - Head Coach, 6th year
• Jeff Boals - Assistant Coach
• Dave Dickerson - Assistant Coach
• Chris Jent - Assistant Coach
• Dave Richardson - Strength and Conditioning Coach
• Vince O'Brien - Athletic Trainer
• David Egelhoff - Director of Basketball Operations
• Greg Paulus - Video Coordinator

Season by season results

Under Thad Matta:

Postseason results

National championships

Final Four history

Awards

Consensus All-American selections

*National Player of the Year

First-Team All-Big Ten

Big Ten Player of the Year

Big Ten Coach of the Year

All award data taken from^[1]

All-time statistical leaders

Career leaders

Single-season leaders

Single-game leaders

All statistical data taken from.^[2]

References

External links

• Official website