Chris Holtmann believes key assistant coach could be leaving soon

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann sang high praise for both his Buckeyes roster and coaching staff this week, as No. 22 Ohio State managed to squeak past No. 15 Illinois on the road, dishing out compliments to Ryan Pedon, specifically.

Pedon, an assistant coach under Holtmann, is currently in his fifth year with Ohio State, having joined the Buckeyes back in June of 2017. A Columbus native, Pedon returned home with Holtmann after Holtmann accepted the Ohio State job; previously the head coach at Butler, Pedon served under Holtmann there, too.

Since Pedon’s arrival in Columbus, Ohio State has looked the part of a blue blood, stringing together an 87-44 overall record entering the season. Now, in 2021-22, Ohio State once again looks poised to make noise in the offseason — but Holtmann said that it may be one of the last postseason runs for Pedon at Ohio State, because he’s bound to get a head-coaching job elsewhere soon enough.

“No,” Holtmann said, when asked if Pedon gets enough recognition. “But assistants rarely do. Ryan is fantastic. 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. But unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to be able to hang onto him for too much longer. He’s that good. I can’t wait for him to be a head coach.”

Ohio State (18-7, 11-5) currently sits at fourth in the Big Ten conference rankings, and the Buckeyes’ win over Illinois last week gave them another huge victory over a team one spot ahead. Holtmann, Pedon and the Buckeyes still have some work to do before heading into the Big Ten Tournament, however, as Ohio State still has Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan State and Michigan left on schedule before postseason play gets underway.

Chris Holtmann reveals impressive behind-the-scenes tidbit on EJ Lidell’s performance

Ohio State star EJ Liddell became the focal point after Ohio State’s impressive 86-83 victory over Illinois on Thursday night.

Lidell grew up just outside of St. Louis and it was clear Illini fans weren’t thrilled he didn’t stay home and instead decided to pursue a career with the Buckeyes. He currently leads Ohio State with 19.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 points per game.

The OSU star hit two clutch free throws in the final seconds on the road to help the Buckeyes close out the victory.

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann revealed an impressive behind-the-scenes tidbit after the game that made EJ Lidell’s success through adversity on Thursday even more impressive.

“He’s a tremendous talent,” Hotlmann said. “My man needed fluids the night after the IU game. He was in the hospital and it turned out it was just the flu, but he had a lot of fatigue. He was fine, he was good enough to play. If he wouldn’t have played well he would have said ‘hey it’s on me.’ There would have been no excuses, but I really give him credit for knocking down those two free throws which were really critical.”

On3’s Sean Labar contributed to this report.