Buckeye Fans Need To Put Thad Matta’s Tenure In Perspective

Prior to Thad Matta’s arrival at Ohio State in 2004, the Buckeyes had been to only one Final Four in the previous 35 years. In that span they won the Big Ten regular season just five times. In Matta’s tenure as the head man of the Buckeye program, now in its 15th year, his teams have won the conference regular season five times, the conference tournament four times, and have reached the Final Four twice. Despite all of that success, Matta’s welcome has started to wear thin amongst some Buckeye fans. The Buckeyes have sputtered to a 2-4 start this year, and are currently on a four game losing streak. What exactly is the ceiling for this program? Whatever it may be, and you will probably get mixed responses to that question, it is important to remember why that ceiling is what it is.

Expectations are a funny thing. They are bred purely from the success of the team, which can often make coaches a victim of that very success. In 2004, Matta took over a program that had missed the tournament the previous two years and was in the midst of an NCAA scandal. While the team was ineligible for postseason play, they ended the season by beating top ranked, and previously undefeated, Illinois. The following year, Matta led the Buckeyes to their first outright Big Ten title since 1992. And thus expectations were born.

The 2006-2007 season welcomed in the “Thad Five” recruiting class, led by Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. Expectations had never been higher for a Buckeye basketball team, and they delivered, making a Final Four run that ended on the final night of the season. The Buckeyes fell just short of a national title, but expectations had been cemented nonetheless. The Buckeye basketball program had entered uncharted territory. With both the football team and the basketball team playing for national championships in the same academic year, Buckeye fans were giddy at the thought that the basketball program had now joined the football program in that “elite” category. Uncharted territories, indeed.

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The 2010-2011 team entered the tournament as the number one overall seed. The Buckeyes were 29-2 in the  regular season, won the conference, and were unanimously pegged as the best team in the country. They were awarded the “group of death”, per se, and were eventually beaten in the Sweet 16 by Kentucky, who would go on to the Final Four.

Matta and the Buckeyes found themselves back in the Final Four in 2012. That team, led by Jared Sullinger, was rolling as they arrived in New Orleans. The season would end in relative disappointment as the Buckeyes squandered a nine point halftime lead against Kansas in the National Semifinals.

A season later, the Buckeyes fell just short of a return trip to the Final Four. Matta claimed his fourth Big Ten tournament title and earned a number 2 seed in the tournament. The Buckeyes reached the Elite 8 but were cut down by a Cinderella Wichita State team. Again, the season ended in disappointment.

Last year’s edition of Buckeye basketball was more or less an NBA audition for incoming freshman D’Angelo Russell. Russell did everything he could, but the lack of talent around him made for an early exit come March. The Buckeyes won their opening game but were beaten in the Round of 32 by a far more talented Arizona team.

And that brings us to current state of Buckeye basketball. As things appear now, the Buckeyes probably won’t be dancing come March. The team is reeling, losers of four straight, and still searching for some sort of consistency from a ridiculously young team. Unless this team finds some serious answers very soon, it will be Matta’s third season being left out of the NCAA tournament. The first was his opening season with the program, where the team was ineligible, and the second was after the mass exodus following the 2006-2007 season that saw four starters leave.

Matta undoubtedly deserves a lot of blame for how young this team is. Recruiting has been an all or nothing gig for Matta. He has brought in some all-time greats, and he has missed big on some classes. More importantly, he has been unable to convince some of the state’s top talent to stay home and be Buckeyes. This current group of freshman arrived in Columbus as part of a top 5 class. It lacks a true superstar, but is deep in developmental talent. For once, Matta has a team that is going to be intact for more than a year or two.

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Success breeds contempt, and somehow a contingent of Buckeye fans have convinced themselves that they deserve better than what Thad Matta has given them. Buckeye fans want to believe that their program is elite, but it just isn’t. Oddly enough, Buckeye fans refuse to do their own part to make the case for being an elite program. The atmosphere inside the Schottenstein Center is bad. Bad as in one of the worst in the entire Big Ten. Nothing about the typical atmosphere of a Buckeye home game is enticing to a recruit who also holds offers from Kentucky and Louisville. Matta is losing in-state talent to the Duke and Michigan State-type programs of the basketball world. Because those programs are truly elite. Those are the kind of programs that kids grow up dreaming of playing for.

And that isn’t a slight to the Ohio State program. The fact that they could even be considered in the realm of elites in college basketball is remarkable in its own right, and would have been considered a pipe dream before Thad Matta took the reigns. When Matta leaves the program, Buckeye fans can only hope that there is someone out there that could match his success. Let alone top it.

How this young team develops is going to go a long way in determining Matta’s ultimate legacy in Columbus. The rumblings are getting louder and, given this team’s struggles, will continue to rise as the season rolls on. There will be no excuses next year for Thad and this basketball team. With everyone returning, and the possible addition of five star Kobi Simmons, youth and talent will not be there to fall back on.

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However Matta’s career comes to a close, Buckeye fans must never forget the 35 years of mediocrity that came before him. The standard that he has created at Ohio State isn’t a guarantee to follow with any type of coaching change, so be careful what you wish for.

The career of the winningest coach in Ohio State history is remarkably headed towards a crossroad that he engineered. He is struggling to live up to the standard he built, and ultimately it could cost him his job. Expectations are a funny thing.