Ohio State athletic director 'confident' Thad Matta can return program to winning ways

The Buckeyes' coach received public confirmation of his job security

Ohio State, barring a Big Ten tournament title, will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

That hasn’t happened since 2004, and the last time OSU missed two straight tournaments it fired then-coach Jim O’Brien.

But Thad Matta will not suffer such a fate. On Wednesday, Buckeyes athletic director Gene Smith put out an official statement of support for Matta, informing the public that the 49-year-old will be back on the bench in Columbus next season. Here is the statement in full:

“Recently, Thad and I had a great discussion regarding the future of our men’s basketball program,” Smith said. “Thad’s record at Ohio State is an outstanding 337-122; a winning percentage of .734. He is the all-time wins leader and owns the record for most games coached at Ohio State. His teams have won five Big Ten titles, and made nine NCAA postseason appearances. What Thad’s teams at Ohio State have accomplished – both on and off the court – is highly commendable.

“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. 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.”

Ohio State is 17-14 and seeded 11th in the Big Ten bracket. It faces Rutgers on Wednesday, and a win would pit the Buckeyes against No. 6 Northwestern. Matta said earlier this week that one opposing team tried to use negative recruiting against him, referring to an erroneous reality: that he was dying.