Ohio State basketball fans react to Chris Holtmann firing on social media

On Wednesday, Gene Smith made a decision to fire Chris Holtmann as the head coach of the Ohio State basketball team. It was the first time Smith had fired a basketball coach in the middle of the season. Now, there will be someone else leading the program in future seasons.

Ohio State basketball fans have had a wide range of opinions on the move so far. Fans have taken to social media to vocalize their opinion. Most of them are happy Holtmann is gone, including myself.

There were also some fans who noted that they liked Holtmann personally and were sad to see it not work out in Columbus for him.

I'll keep my personal feelings out of this decision because I have a unique perspective on Holtmann and his tenure with the Ohio State basketball program. As far as the firing goes, it was a year too late. This should've happened last year after that abomination of a season.

Instead, the Buckeyes wasted another season with a roster that is clearly flawed for Big Ten play. They can beat up bad teams in non-conference play, but they can't even beat mediocre Big Ten teams. That's why they'll be sitting at home when the NCAA Tournament is going on yet again.

I am glad that Smith decided to take some accountability for his decision to stick with Holtmann. He now regrets the decision to extend him because it's going to cost Ohio State a lot of money to make him go away. Still, he ripped the band-aid off. He deserves some credit for realizing his mistake and moving on.

As for the rest of this season, the Buckeyes are playing for pride. Jake Diebler takes over and will try to convince Ross Bjork to give him the full-time gig. We'll see if this team can get an upset or two to make that happen down the stretch.