Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann Named A Semifinalist For Naismith Coach Of The Year

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Ohio State men’s basketball head coach Chris Holtmann was one of 10 coaches named as a Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year semifinalist.

Holtmann has led Ohio State to an 18-7 record in his fourth season with the team, despite a current three-game losing streak against Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa.

Speaking of the Wolverines, Michigan head coach Juwan Howard is also one of the 10 semifinalists, and the only other semifinalist from the Big Ten. The others are Darian DeVries from Drake, Scott Drew from Baylor, Mark Few from Gonzaga, Leonard Hamilton from Florida State, Bob Huggins from West Virginia, Porter Moser from Loyola-Chicago, Eric Musselman from Arkansas and Nate Oats from Alabama.

Holtmann was named the John McLendon National Coach of the Year while at Butler in 2017, and was also named Big Ten Coach of the Year in his first season with the Buckeyes in 2018.

Ohio State has just one regular season game remaining, a home matchup Saturday against No. 4 Illinois, before starting the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes would currently enter the tournament as the 5-seed behind Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Purdue, respectively.

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