Gene Smith explains his role in next hiring of Ohio State basketball coach

Gene Smith is set to retire at the end of the 2023-24 academic year after spearheading the Ohio State athletic department for nearly two decades.

During that time, Smith has seen tons of coaches come and go under his watch and discretion — which means it was business as usual when he decided that he had to fire former men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann on Wednesday.

While that doesn’t make it any easier, that’s the nature of the job. This time, however, Smith won’t have to take on the additional burden of finding another head coach. Instead, he will defer the new hire to incoming AD Ross Bjork after naming Jake Diebler as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

“I’m going to help Jake [Diebler] with that and help navigate it and when Ross [Bjork] gets here,” Smith said. “He will share with me his plan for the search. I’ll be there to assist him and be very much a part of it.”

Going 137-84 as Ohio State head coach since he was hired in 2017, Holtmann had tasted success for a whole in Columbus.

Other than the canceled 2020 NCAA Tournament, Holtmann led Ohio State to the NCAA Tournament during his first four full seasons leading the Buckeyes’ program. Holtmann also led Ohio State to 20 win seasons during his first five seasons, but could not pass that mark in either of his last two years on campus.

According to Smith, it seems as though this year’s 14-11 record, which ended with Holtmann’s squad losing six of their last seven games before being let go. Sitting at 4-10 through conference play, the only team below the Buckeyes in Big Ten play was Michigan at 3-11.

“I just felt like looking at the last couple of games, a few games actually, that this team needed different leadership,” Smith explained. “So I made the change.”

While the Ohio State men’s basketball program moves forward without its head coach, they’re preparing for a massive home game on Sunday against No. 2 Purdue. The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS.

The Buckeyes are expected to be massive underdogs during that matchup, but has five consecutive golden opportunities against unranked conference opponents to end the regular season after Sunday’s affair. Whether Ohio State can capitalize on this is up to them. For now, Diebler will lead his men into battle this weekend against one of the favorites to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament.