Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann named best 2017 hire by CBS Sports

We’re going to ask you to go back in your memory banks just a wee bit. It was June of 2017 and suddenly and unexpectedly, Ohio State and head basketball coach Thad Matta parted ways, citing the rationale that it was just time (we’re paraphrasing).

The timing was not ideal because the coaching carousel had already sputtered and stopped at that point in time meaning most of the hot commodities when it came to young and upcoming college coaches had been swooped up by athletic directors anxious to save their own knecks.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith was then forced to go on a Lord of the Rings type of coaching journey to try and lure an established coach away from another program. Several names entered the fray, but it became clear that Butler’s Chris Holtmann was the main target and the two eventually reached an agreement for him to become the next head coach in Columbus on June 9.

Many were distraught at losing out on Dayton’s Archie Miller, who was hired by Indiana just after the end of the 2016-17 season, but we all know how that ended up playing out.

So, now that we’ve had one full recruiting cycle to judge the hirings of the 2017 offseason, CBS Sports published a ranking of the best hires in college basketball with Holtmann being a part of that population with guys like Miller, Brad Underwood of Illinois, Oklahoma State’s Mike Boynton, Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, and more.

You might be surprised where Matt Norlander has Holtmann among all the coaches hired in 2017. There’s no doubt he has to be near the top, but where exactly?

NEXT … Where CBS Sports ranks Holtmann of the 2017 hires