The winningest head coach in the history of the Ohio State basketball program is Thad Matta. Matta was a great coach for the Buckeyes for over a decade. He took the Ohio State Buckeyes to new heights, including two Final Fours and a National Championship Game appearance.
Matta ended up retiring from Ohio State following the 2016-2017 season. He cited injuries that he had been dealing with for a while as the main reason, although the program had declined in the previous years under his control. He sat out of college basketball for five years.
Matta eventually returned to coach the Butler Bulldogs, a place he had been previously. He didn't have much success with the Bulldogs, failing to make the NCAA Tournament in any season. Now, he has decided to retire for a second time instead of being fired.
Legendary Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta retires from Butler
According to Butler's social media, Matta has called it quits. This will likely be the last time that Matta coaches in college basketball, even though he had retired before. He is 58 years old and still suffers from the injuries that he was dealing with in Columbus, although they are better.
Matta has his name in the rafters at the Schottenstein Center, as it should be. He is probably the second-greatest head coach in program history, only behind Fred Taylor. The Buckeyes were a force under Matta for the greater part of his tenure. He was beloved by the students, too.
If Matta were to return to Columbus for another game, he would immediately get a standing ovation. He struggled to adapt to the NIL era, and his coaching style likely wouldn't work at a place like Ohio State any longer. That doesn't diminish what he was able to accomplish in his historic career.