Skip to main content
ohio-state logo

Tanner Holden's signature moment all about staying ready

IMG_7408by:Andy Backstrom•12/11/22•

andybackstrom

On3 image
Wright State senior transfer Tanner Holden has remained patient while adjusting to consistent high-major competition at Ohio State. (Matt Parker/Lettermen Row)

COLUMBUS — Tanner Holden said his buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Rutgers in Ohio State’s Big Ten opener Thursday night was his first last-second shot since he was in fourth grade.

That doesn’t mean Holden is new to the spotlight, though.

“He’s a gamer,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s made big shots his whole life, really.”

And big catches.

Holden reeled in the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime of the 2017 Division V State Championship for Wheelersburg High School in southeastern Ohio. At one point, Urban Meyer was even recruiting Holden to play football for the Buckeyes, as the 6-foot-6 dual-sport playmaker was named Ohio’s Co-Offensive Player of the Year in Division V, not mention that he was a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football as a junior.

Holden stuck with basketball and remained in state to play for, and eventually star for, Wright State, where he spent the first three seasons of his college career.

After ranking second among all Raiders players in scoring as a sophomore with 15.8 points per game, Holden was used on 27.8% of Wright State’s possessions last season. He had the second-highest usage rate on the team and the 135th-highest usage rate in the country, according to KenPom.

Holden started all 36 games and averaged 35.3 minutes per outing. He led the Raiders to a Horizon League Tournament title and, subsequently, the program’s fourth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.

Holden registered a team-high 20.1 points per game, averaging 13.6 field goal attempts and 7.8 shots from the charity stripe along the way. He shined in most of Wright State’s biggest games.

Holden poured in 17 points against Purdue early last season, then had 18 in an upset win over North Carolina State in late December. He scored 19 in the Horizon League final against Northern Kentucky, and, soon after, racked up 37 — in part thanks to 14 free throws — in a First Four victory over Bryant.

Holden finished 33 games last season in double figures, including Wright State’s NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Arizona. The high-scoring guard was a Horizon League standout and grabbed headlines in the early hours of March Madness.

Playing at Ohio State became an option again this past offseason — this time, for basketball.

Holden took the chance, although he knew it might mean giving up individual distinction.

“Before I ever entered the portal, I wrote a list down of what the changes were going to be — the pros and cons of leaving,” Holden said Thursday. “And one of those was maybe I’ll play less.

“That was one of the things, I just had to bite the bullet on that.”

Through eight games this season, Holden was flying under the radar on a new-look Buckeyes team that featured four impact freshmen, plus two Big 12 transfers — Oklahoma State’s Isaac Likekele and West Virginia’s Sean McNeil — who were slotted into the season-opening starting five.

Holden scored a team-high 25 points in an exhibition win against Chaminade and added 12 more in the first game of the regular season, a runaway victory over Robert Morris. But he logged a combined 10 points in his first four games against high-major opponents. That included a two-game scoreless stretch against then-No. 21 Texas Tech and then-No. 17 Duke.

He almost ended the Rutgers game with a goose egg, too.

That was, before his buzzer beater. It actually shouldn’t have counted, the Big Ten revealed this week, because Holden was the first player to touch the ball after stepping out of bounds.

But that doesn’t take away from the gravity of the deep 3-pointer — Ohio State’s first walk-off, no time left, game-winner since Evan Turner hit one to beat Michigan in the 2010 Big Ten Tournament, and Holden’s first signature moment of his Buckeyes career.

“It’s huge,” Holden said. “For me, it’s a confidence booster.”

He later added: “It’s always an adjustment. Any time going from a different team, different conference, there’s always adjustments. So I think, overall, the scoring will come.”

Holden noted that the Buckeyes have a bunch of players who can put the ball in the hoop. At the moment, Holtmann’s squad has four players averaging at least 10 points per game, and freshman point guard Bruce Thornton is right on the cusp with 9.9 points per contest.

Holden emphasized that he’s not frustrated about his playing time (16.6 minutes per game) or scoring production (4.8 points per game). He was focused Thursday night on the fact that he could help his team get Big Ten play started on the right foot.

Holtmann explained earlier in the week that the transition to Big Ten competition would be a process for not only his contributing freshmen but also Holden. Holtmann pointed out postgame that Holden needs to be better defensively against the more physical Big Ten athletes.

“But I don’t want to get into that too much tonight because I’m just really happy for the kid,” Holtmann said. “Really happy for him.”

Holden is confident he will find his footing, scoring-wise — and that his teammates will continue to find him at the right time.

“I think tonight’s a perfect example of just to stay ready,” he said.

You may also like