Source: Former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann likely hire for DePaul job
Former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann has emerged as the likely hire for DePaul’s coaching vacancy, The Dispatch has confirmed.
The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman first reported the news, saying that the Blue Devils were zeroing in on Holtmann. A deal has not yet been finalized.
Holtmann, 52, was in his seventh season at Ohio State when retiring athletic director Gene Smith fired him with six games remaining. Holtmann had amassed a 137-86 record while going 67-65 in the Big Ten.
Holtmann, who was under contract through June 30, 2028, was paid a $12.5 million buyout as incoming athletic director Ross Bjork began the search for a full-time replacement.
The move to DePaul will be a return to the Big East, where Holtmann was head coach at Butler for three seasons before being hired to replace Thad Matta in 2017. The Blue Demons went 3-29 last season and were 0-20 in league play under Tony Stubblefield, who was fired after three seasons. DePaul has had just one winning season in the last 17 years, when it went 19-17 under Dave Leitao in 2018-19, and has not had a winning record in league play since going 9-7 under Jerry Wainwright in 2006-07.
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Holtmann was named coach of the year in the Big South in 2013, the Big East in 2017 and the Big Ten in 2018. In his first year at Ohio State, the Buckeyes came a game short of winning the Big Ten, going 25-9 overall and 15-3 in the league, and returned to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year absence. It was the first of five straight March Madness appearances for the Buckeyes under Holtmann, a figure that includes the 2020 tournament that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ohio State lost 14 of 15 games in 2022-23 to stumble to a 16-19 overall record and 5-15 mark in Big Ten play. This year, the Buckeyes started out 12-2 but lost nine of their final 11 games under Holtmann.
Ohio State closed the regular season 5-1 with interim coach Jake Diebler in charge and will play Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening with a chance to get on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
The Buckeyes will pay Holtmann less of a buyout due to him accepting the new job, but the exact figure is not known.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Source: Former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann likely hire for DePaul
