Ohio State’s Ryan Pedon Named Head Coach At Illinois State

On Mar 4, 2022

Ohio State assistant coach Ryan Pedon has been named the next head coach at Illinois State, confirming an earlier report from Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch.

“My family and I have been committed to finding the right fit all along,” Pedon said. “Simply stated, Illinois State checks every one of our boxes. Great people, strong academics, a highly competitive environment, a proud alumni base and a campus/community that will allow us to recruit at a high level.

“The tradition of Illinois State men’s basketball is well-documented, and we will embrace this at every level. My family and I are so grateful for this opportunity and look forward to building something very special at Illinois State.”

Pedon replaces Dan Muller, who spent 10 seasons with the Redbirds before he was fired in February in the midst an 11-15 season. They went 2-5 under interim head coach Brian Jones, including a loss in the Missouri Valley Tournament this afternoon, to cap their third consecutive losing season.

A native of nearby Bexley, Ohio, Pedon began coaching career as a graduate assistant at Miami (Ohio). He spent three seasons as the director of basketball operations at Kent State before returning to Oxford as an assistant coach.

Pedon also spent time at Toledo and Illinois before joining head coach Chris Holtmann’s staff at Butler in 2015. He then followed Holtmann to Columbus in 2017 and has spent the last five seasons with the Buckeyes.

“Ryan’s fantastic,” Holtmann said following Ohio State’s win at Illinois on Feb. 24. “I think he’s one of those terrific young, up-and-coming assistant coaches that’s going to be a head coach real soon. He’s turned down a couple of head coaching jobs that were really pretty good jobs, and I’m forever grateful to Ryan for what he’s done.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to be able to hang onto him for much longer. He’s that good, and I can’t wait for him to be a head coach.”

The Buckeyes have gone 106-53 in the five seasons since Holtmann and Pedon arrived, which includes trips to the NCAA Tournament in every year except 2019-20, when it was cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Pedon – who serves as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and was instrumental in the Buckeyes building the top-ranked recruiting class in the Big Ten for the 2022 cycle – will remain on the staff through the postseason.

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