Growing where he's rooted: Ohio State's Ryan Pedon builds Buckeyes, plans for future
For a hot minute, the Ohio State men’s basketball program was set to lose its second assistant coach of the season. It was mid-April, and right around the same time Terry Johnson left for an assistant coaching position at Purdue, Ryan Pedon found himself inside the president’s house at the University of Cincinnati.
The Bearcats were looking for a new coach to restart the program after an investigation led to the dismissal of John Brannen, and Cincinnati had its eyes cast about 90 miles north to the center of the state. Chris Holtmann’s longest-tenured assistant, Pedon has never been a Division I head coach but has in recent years consistently been pegged among the nation’s up-and-coming crop of assistants ready to make the next leap.
Despite his lack of experience, Pedon was quickly identified as a candidate and emerged as a finalist to where, on the day a decision was made, he was in Neville G. Pinto’s house. Ultimately, it was not to be; the Bearcats went with Wes Miller, who had 10 years’ experience as head coach at UNC Greensboro.
But the fact that a candidate with no head coaching experience was on the short list of finalists for a high-level Division I job was the latest in a growing pile of evidence that Pedon might soon be calling the shots at his own program.
The question is when and where, not if. But although that’s the ultimate career goal, the 43-year-old Bexley native isn’t rushing himself out the door of the program he grew up cheering for.
“Ohio State provides so many advantages for our players and for our jobs that I feel really fortunate to be in a position like that,” he said. “I have been in this long enough to know that the grass ain’t always greener on the other side.”
A long, steady grind for Ryan Pedon
A 2000 Wooster graduate, Pedon has experienced the vagabond life that is college coaching. He has been a graduate assistant (Miami University, 2000-02), a director of basketball operations (Kent State, 2002-05), an assistant coach (Miami again, 2005-10; Toledo, 2010-13) and an assistant to the head coach (Illinois, 2013-15) before joining Holtmann’s Butler staff as an assistant in 2015.
When Holtmann came to Ohio State, Pedon interviewed for the Butler job but came to Columbus with the rest of the staff when the Bulldogs hired LaVall Jordan. It was a dream move for Pedon, an Ohio State ball boy as a kid whose family had season tickets at the Buckeyes’ former home in St. John Arena.
And after Ohio State outperformed all reasonable preseason expectations in Holtmann’s first season, nearly capturing a Big Ten title and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Pedon was instantly in contention for head coaching jobs.
“The longer I’ve been in the profession, the more I’ve realized the importance of fit, and I’ve also realized how important that is to me,” Pedon said. “Younger in my career I would, in my mind, be open to anything, any head coaching opportunity, and the longer I’m in the business the more particular or picky I feel I’ve gotten in my thinking.”
So while opportunities have come and gone — Buffalo in 2019 being a particularly notable one — Pedon has been methodical in his decision-making. Plus, there is a genuine desire to make an impact on the Ohio State program.
“That’s real with him,” Holtmann said. “Sometimes people say that and just say it. I think he sees that we’ve stabilized things but he wants to continue to be a part of this moving forward. He’s turned down some really good jobs, and it speaks to who he is.”
Holtmann is quick to point out that those loyalties wouldn’t have prevented Pedon from accepting the Cincinnati job if it had been offered, nor should they have. And his desire to be a coach hardly separates him on a staff with three assistants Holtmann said he believes will all eventually be head coaches. But it speaks to the unique situation Pedon sits in as a highly regarded assistant coach at a program he loves who also dreams of stepping out on his own eventually.
“When you’re an assistant, you have your head in the sand,” Pedon said. “I think you’re aware of jobs that are out there or opportunities that might come up but I don’t consume myself with that stuff. Maybe I would more if I weren’t happy with who I was working for and where I was working at.”
Keeping with it at Ohio State
During his inaugural press conference at Ohio State, Holtmann said a primary reason for taking the job was that he would still be able to coach to his convictions while stepping onto a bigger stage. That same sentiment has been extended to his assistant coaches, and it’s a key aspect to why Pedon has remained happy in his current role as the highest-paid assistant on staff.
He also has been with Holtmann the longest. The two are in their seventh season together, long enough for Holtmann to chide him about wearing clothes that are a little too baggy for his taste.
“He has allowed me to grow as a coach and he’s given me tangible responsibility within the program,” Pedon said. “That’s been enjoyable for me to be a part of the daily operation. He gives that to all of us. I feel empowered because of the trust that he has in his assistant coaches.”
Pedon’s in-game responsibilities shade more toward the offensive end of the court as the de facto offensive coordinator. In the season-opening win against Akron, it was Pedon who suggested that Meechie Johnson Jr. speed dribble across halfcourt and call timeout with about three seconds left to set up a final play. Then it was Pedon who drew it up, resulting in Malaki Branham feeding Zed Key the ball at the basket in the final second for the win.
As a recruiter, Pedon was the point man on E.J. Liddell and Duane Washington Jr. At Butler, he beat out the Buckeyes for Kyle Young, who ultimately followed the staff to Ohio State. When Justice Sueing decided to take a chance on a part of the country he had never visited and transfer from California, it was Pedon who brought in the Hawai’ian.
“I felt like the coaching staff was real genuine,” Sueing said after his commitment. “They were the right fit for me. I felt like we kind of clicked right from the beginning, coach Pedon and coach Holtmann.”
“He does not have a weak area,” Holtmann said of Pedon. “I’m sure there are areas he says he can grow in and improve in, but I don’t think he has a significant weakness to him that he needs to now add in order to be a head coach. It’s just the right fit and the right timing, and it’s going to come sooner rather than later for him.”
"Sooner" could be as soon as the 2022 offseason. Given how close he has already come to a head coaching job, it’s difficult to imagine the annual coaching carousel not spinning his name into contention somewhere. And at some point, the right situation will solidify and Pedon, wife Stephanie and son Maddox will pack up and start anew.
It will be a moment both bittersweet and cherished. Although he is a people person with deep recruiting ties across the region, Pedon is not a self-promoter. He would rather talk about his players, Ohio State’s offensive game plan or even the minutia of Big Ten basketball history.
“When you are working in a happy place, I think it enables you to see things a little bit more clear because you’re not thinking through a desperate lens and you are able to judge each opportunity and look maybe a little more matter-of-fact and realize, 'I have a great situation here and I really believe in what we’re doing,' and that drives me.”
It also is what will likely drive him elsewhere eventually. But with Pedon, those roads could always lead back to Columbus again someday.
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Pedon building Ohio State while planning for future
