After leading Ohio State to the brink of a Big Ten title, Chris Holtmann has been named a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Holtmann came to Ohio State in early June following the firing of longtime head coach Thad Matta, and inherited a roster that had won just 17 games in 2016-17 and would be without arguably its best player in Trevor Thompson, who left early for the professional ranks.
All Holtmann has done since is piece together a roster – consisting of a Michigan graduate transfer (Andrew Dakich) and a high schooler (Musa Jallow) – that has Ohio State just one game back of Michigan State for a share of the Big Ten regular season title.