Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann's contract extended through 2027-28
When Chris Holtmann first arrived in Columbus, taking over for Thad Matta as Ohio State's head men's basketball coach in 2017-18, he had a streak to uphold.
Starting in 2012-13 with a 21-win season in his final year as the head coach at Gardner Webb, Holtmann began a streak of four-straight 20-win seasons, earning an NCAA Tournament appearance in each of his three seasons at Butler.
Through his first five seasons at Ohio State, that streak has continued, leading the Buckeyes to a record of 107-56 with at least 20 wins per seasons along with NCAA Tournament appearances in four of his five seasons in Columbus.
Ohio State announced Wednesday that it wants to see if that streak will continue.
The athletic department announced that Holtmann will receive a three-year contract extension keeping him on the sidelines through the 2027-28 season. With it comes a salary adjustment boost of $500,000, raising his annual salary to $3.5 million with a base salary of $1 million per year, per approval by the Board of Trustees.
Holtmann initially signed an eight-year, $26 million contract when he first arrived with the Buckeyes, securing his status until the end of the 2024-25 season.
Holtmann was the second Ohio State coach to win 20 or more games in each of his first four seasons along with Matta, and was the second Buckeyes coach to teams to the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons along with Randy Ayers.
In his first season with the Buckeyes, coming off a 2016-17 season in which he was named the Big East Coach of the Year with Butler, Holtmann earned the 2017-18 Big Ten Coach of the Year award, leading Ohio State to a 25-9 record, starting 9-0 in conference play, and finishing the season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Holtmann had the Buckeyes in a position to make the NCAA Tournament in each of his first five seasons at Ohio State, failing to play in a tournament game in 2019-20 due to COVID-19 canceling the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes still finished with a record of 21-10, having earned wins against Cincinnati, Villanova, Kentucky and Maryland — all conference champions — and wins against four top-10 opponents: Villanova, North Carolina, Kentucky and Maryland.
In the NCAA Tournament under Holtmann, Ohio State has won three of its seven appearances, never advancing farther than the second round, but losing each of its three second-round appearances by 10 points or less.
Heading into the 2022-23 season, despite losing two players in Malaki Branham and E.J. Liddell, who are on the path to becoming first-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, Holtmann and his staff have the No. 5 recruiting class in the country coming in, something Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith has been satisfied with.
"I am really happy with where we are. We strive for championships, there's no question about that, and we need to get there and we will," Smith said. "But you look at his recruiting, it's off the chain
"I just love the teaching he does... The guy is doggone good."
Holtmann and the Ohio State coaching staff have already secured commitments from two players in the 2023 class: guard George Washington III and center Austin Parks.
Ohio State also announced a two-year contract extension for football head coach Ryan Day Wednesday, along with a four-year contract for women's basketball head coach Kevin McGuff through the 2025-26 season, a five-year contract for men's lacrosse coach Nick Myers through the 2027 season, and a two-year contract extension for men's hockey head coach Steve Rohlik through the 2025-26 season.