3 Takeaways From Chris Holtmann Going to Ohio State

Chris Holtmann shook up the college basketball world this morning by leaving Butler to replace Thad Matta at THE Ohio State University. I have three major takeaways from this move: 1) Holtmann must attempt to rebuild another program that has lost its way over the past few years. 2) The Butler coaching search is going to be WILD. 3) The Big East is still on a lower tier than the other major conferences. 

First, it's clear that Ohio State basketball has seen better days. Matta, despite what his exit would suggest, was the best coach in program history, taking the Buckeyes to two Final Fours and nine NCAA Tournament appearances. But he was canned because of their recent slide in the Big Ten and national picture. The program has been plagued with transfers and dismissals. In fact, no one remains from the 2015 recruiting class–and that's not because of the NBA. Holtmann comes in with barely anything to work with, but his time at Butler showed that he can rise a program back from the ashes. 

Chris Holtmann's future is only one side of the story. Butler now has an uncertain outlook for its future as well. Luckily for Butler, they have experience with losing pretty good coaches to bigger jobs. If history repeats itself, Butler will find another guy, get a top 4 seed in the tournament, and lose him too. My point is that history is on Butler's side here. Also, Butler isn't some garbage job in the middle of nowhere. It has a historic arena, a great fan base, and national prominence. The Butler administration should have the awareness to go for bigger names instead of buying low. To me, one name stands out among all others: Tom. Aaron. Crean. I mean come on. This is PERFECT. Crean was unfairly booted from Indiana, he would get to stay in the state, and the Big East would get another big-name coach to join with Jay Wright, Chris Mack, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin. (Notice I said "big-name" not "big-time"). Imagine the Crossroads Classic where Indiana plays Butler. That would be awesome. If they don't go for Crean, I think it will be an inside hire (boring), but it worked last time so who am I to criticize it? 

Lastly, this shows that the Big East is still lower on the totem pole than the Big Ten and the other major conferences. I'm old enough to remember when the Big East was the best conference in college basketball and was flirting with 11 NCAA Tournament teams. Now, it's a small-school league televised on FS1. FS1 is great and all, but the Big East has certainly had more luxurious eras. The fact of the matter is that bigger conferences mean bigger money, and coaches are always going to go for money, as they should.