Scarlet Sunrise: Chris Holtmann adds former NBA assistant Brandon Bailey to staff

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Chris Holtmann adds former NBA assistant Brandon Bailey to staff

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann hired a new assistant Thursday, according to The Columbus Dispatch: Brandon Bailey, a longtime NBA staffer who most recently served as the Detroit Pistons’ assistant/player development coach.

Bailey joins a Buckeyes staff that is headed by Holtmann and also includes associate head coach Jake Diebler and fellow assistants Jack Owens and Mike Netti. Keep in mind, starting on July 1, the NCAA is allowing programs to have five on-court assistants, not just three, a change that allows Bailey to assume that position for Ohio State.

Before taking on his role with the Pistons, Bailey spent the 2010s with the Boston Celtics. He was brought aboard in 2011 as a video intern. Ultimately, he worked his way up the food chain and earned the assistant title for 2019-21. Bailey, a Chicago native, then was a Celtics advanced scouts during 2021-22.

During that decade span, Bailey also had a stint as the head coach of the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, who Bailey led from 2017-19.

Bailey’s speciality is on the defensive end, a continued emphasis for the Buckeyes, who haven’t ranked higher than 82nd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency each of the past three seasons, according to KenPom. Last year, Ohio State conceded 69.0 points per game, which placed them 138th in Division I and 10th in the Big Ten in scoring defense.

Bailey hopes to be part of an Ohio State bounce-back season in 2023-24. The Buckeyes missed the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2016-17 and had a losing season for the first time since 2003-04.

Ohio State to play at UCLA in 2024, host USC in 2025

The Big Ten announced big scheduling news Thursday afternoon. Starting in 2024, the conference is doing away with divisions and adopting a “Flex Protect Plus” scheduling model.

Each Big Ten team will face every other league opponent at least twice — home and away — during a four-year period.

Schools will still play nine conference games. Programs have anywhere from zero to three protected annual opponents. Ohio State’s lone annual protected opponent is Michigan. Teams will also have three “two-play opponents,” a group that includes annual protected opponent(s), while the remaining spots are occupied by other league opponents that will rotate out after being played home and away in consecutive years.

The Big Ten also revealed programs’ home/away conference opponents for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Most notably, Ohio State will be making its first trip out to UCLA since 2001 next year. Then the Buckeyes will host USC in 2025.

For more details, go here.

mark your calendars, the buckeyes future is set 🌰 pic.twitter.com/bRBDeouhXG

— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) June 8, 2023

Quick Hitters from debut Ohio State 2023 recruiting camp

Ohio State held its first recruiting camp of the summer Thursday. Hordes of high schoolers turned out with the intent to turn heads on the outdoor practice fields of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Lettermen Row was there taking stock of the talent on hand in Columbus.

A few prospects received offers from Ohio State. Meanwhile, a couple 2024 Buckeyes commits got some solid work in.

For a quick rundown of the day’s major developments, head here.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 85 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 169 days

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