Three worst coaching hires in Ohio State basketball history
By Ryan Stano
2. Eldon Miller
How do you follow the only coach in program history to win a national championship? It turns out not well. That was the plight of Eldon Miller after he took over for Fred Taylor. Taylor won a national title, made three straight Final Fours, and made four of them overall.
Miller had the unenviable task of replacing a legend. He was never able to bring the Buckeyes up to those same heights. In ten seasons leading the Ohio State basketball team, he never won a conference title. He made the NCAA Tournament just four times and never made it past the Sweet 16.
If you think about the late 70s and early 80s of Ohio State basketball, nothing memorable pops up. That's because Miller didn't really make anything happen. His crowning achievement was winning the NIT in his final season with the team. Following up Taylor, that's a massive failure.
Miller finished with an overall record of 174-120 with the Buckeyes and went 96-84 in the Big Ten. He's worse than Holtmann because he never had a highly-seeded NCAA Tournament team. The best seed the Buckeyes had with him was a four-seed. Holtmann at least had a 2-seed and led his team to the Big Ten Tournament finals.
Miller went on to coach Northern Iowa for several years after being fired from Ohio State after the 1985-86 season. He only made the NCAA Tournament once with the Panthers. Miller just never quite lived up to the high expectations that Taylor set for this program.
The final coach on this list never succeeded with Ohio State but eventually won a national title with another program.