It’s time for Ohio State basketball to move on from Chris Holtmann

After another collapse down the stretch, it’s time for the Ohio State basketball team to part ways with head coach Chris Holtmann.

I know, I know. The season isn’t over yet. We still have the NCAA Tournament to play. Isn’t it a little premature to say that Chris Holtmann needs to be fired? What if he makes a run? What if this Ohio State basketball team actually gets to the Elite Eight or further?

If this is your thought process, let me ask you a question. What have you seen in the month of March in Chris Holtmann’s tenure to think that any of that is possible? I’m not even talking about just this year, although that is bad enough. They’ve lost four of their last five games now.

I’m also talking about what has happened in the previous four seasons. Since taking over the Ohio State basketball program five years ago, Holtmann is now 9-14 in the month of March. That includes regular-season games, Big Ten Tournament games, and NCAA Tournament games.

That’s simply not good enough. Every year, this team falters down the stretch. I’ve seen some fans say that it’s the players’ fault that this happens. Well, guess who recruits the players? Guess who brings them in from the transfer portal? They don’t magically appear!

Holtmann is a really nice guy and fits really well into the community. I want to make it clear that as a person, I really like Holtmann. As a basketball coach, it’s time for him to move on. Ohio State clearly isn’t going anywhere with him leading the program.

I know full well that Holtmann is probably getting at least one more year because he has a top-five recruiting class coming in. Even so, I think that is one year too late to move on and bring someone else in.