Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes don’t lose much in Terry Johnson
By Ryan Stano
The former Ohio State basketball assistant coach is heading to Purdue in a rare interconference move. The Buckeyes aren’t losing much though.
Chris Holtmann brought Terry Johnson into the Ohio State basketball program after he was an assistant under him at Butler. In all, Johnson was with Holtmann for seven years. Holtmann clearly liked having him around. Now, he has decided to move on to Purdue for an assistant coaching job there.
It’s very odd to see one coach move to another program in the same conference for essentially the same position. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially when Johnson had been with Holtmann for as long as he had. Nevertheless, that’s the decision he made.
In all honesty, the Buckeyes don’t lose much. Johnson was the guy who was in charge of the defense under Holtmann. That defense was a problem all season long. It was the biggest reason why they got upset by Oral Roberts in the NCAA Tournament.
It might be good for the Buckeyes to get some new blood on the defensive side of coaching. They need something to change after an abysmal defensive season. I mean, in the game against Oral Roberts, all they really had to do was focus on two guys and they couldn’t do it.
Even though it’s not great to lose a coach to a conference opponent, I think the Buckeyes will be okay without Johnson moving forward. Holtmann will find someone else who can help him out on defensive schemes. I’m sure he can find someone who can help the defense get better.
Next. 3 teams that should trade for Justin Fields. dark
The defense can’t get much worse than it was a year ago. Adding Joey Brunk should help that as well. It will be interesting to see how Holtmann fills this hole in his coaching staff.