The video quickly made headlines. A frustrated Thad Matta let loose at a golf outing in Powell, Ohio and said his Ohio State's men's basketball program "got rid of problems, but kept solutions."
Matta's club went 21-14 and 11-7 in Big Ten play last season, bowing out to Florida in the second round of the NIT. With question a noticeably down year for Matta, and four players from Ohio State's 2015 recruiting class — all but one being from out of state — transferred out.
Matta's boss, Ohio State Director of Athletics and Vice President Gene Smith, saw the video of Matta's recent comments and knows the coach and program must do better this winter. Smith liked the fire from Matta but also is a fan of recent recruiting strategies of the program that involve a focus on the state of Ohio and Midwest.
"We need to get back to recruiting our home base," Smith said in an interview with Eleven Warriors Wednesday. "He's done that and got kids who want to be here."
Daniel Giddens (Georgia), Mickey Mitchell (Texas), Austin Grandstaff (Texas) and A.J. Harris (Ohio) all left after the 2015-16 season. To replace them, Matta brought in Derek Funderburk, Micah Potter, Andre Wesson and junior college guard C.J. Jackson.
All but Jackson hail from the Buckeye State and Matta has his staff after more local talent like Kyle Young, Markell Johnson (though he committed to North Carolina State last month), Darius Bazley, Dwayne Cohill, Jerome Hunter and many others.
The thought is simple: Get guys either from Ohio or a close proximity who have an understanding and admiration of what it means to play for the Buckeyes.
"We need to get back to our home base, which is within a 150-200 mile radius," Smith said. "You can go out and get one or two kids, but at the end of the day, I think we need players that appreciate the Scarlet and Gray."
“When he talked about this is what I'm going to do, it's perfect for me. That's what he needed to do. I'm highly confident that we're going to be much better than we've ever been.”– Gene Smith on Thad Matta
Matta did it and did it well in the past. David Lighty, Jon Diebler, Jamar Butler, Aaron Craft, Dallas Lauderdale, William Buford, Jared Sullinger, Daequan Cook, B.J. Mullens and Kosta Koufos are from Ohio. Other program staples like Mike Conley, Greg Oden, Evan Turner, Lenzelle Smith and Deshaun Thomas grew up in Indiana and Illinois.
Those players advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and beyond and won Big Ten championships. Matta's program is three seasons removed from doing either one of those things.
"It goes back to recruiting. It's all on the coach," Smith said, referring to those who transferred out this year. "At the end of the day, you go back to we recruited the young men, we evaluated their backgrounds, we went through that process. We made some mistakes. Part of it is the culture that we have to accept that's out there (players transferring) nationally. How do we make sure we don't make those mistakes, understanding this new culture? And that's what I like, this new strategy."
Or, perhaps old strategy.
"There’s dynamics in terms of that, and it’s not always as easy as people think it is to recruit our own state," Matta said this spring. "But we’ve had some great players from the state of Ohio, we’ve had some great players in the Midwest and hopefully we can continue to do that."
Matta also saw longtime assistant Jeff Boals take the head coaching job at Stony Brook in April. The head coach turned to old friend and former assistant Chris Jent to fill his shoes, then brought back Alan Major as director of player development.
Matta seems serious about this "running this program the way we did when we got here" deal. Aside from Kam Williams (Maryland) and Jackson the scholarship players on Ohio State's roster are all from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Even sophomore JaQuan Lyle, who finished up his high school career at Huntington Prep in West Virginia then IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, grew up in Indiana.
"We look at each year as that particular year. That particular team last year had challenges," Smith said. "We needed to probably handle that team differently than we did, which is why he's talking about 'I'm going back to this style.' I think he's right. You need to go back to your core and what you're excellent at. That's what he's extremely good at.
"He tried some things last year with that particular type of team. Didn't work," he continued. "I'm not sure even he would have stayed with his particular style it would have worked with that team anyway, but I think with where he's going is the right direction with this group of kids. We can go through the list: Kam Williams, going to respond to that. Keita (Bates-Diop), going to respond to that. Jae'Sean (Tate), we can go right down the list. When he talked about this is what I'm going to do, it's perfect for me. That's what he needed to do. I'm highly confident that we're going to be much better than we've ever been."
They need to be, because Smith believes Ohio State belongs in the upper-echelon of college hoops alongside powers like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Kansas. Matta led the program to new heights in the form of Final Fours and a national title game since his arrival in 2004.
Smith wants the edge the made that happen to come back and things like the video of Matta discussing his annoyance with "the B.S." that snuck its way through the cracks in recent years is a good way to start.
"He and I talk every year about expectations and performance, where we are and where we need to be," Smith said. "Obviously this year we talked pretty straightforward about where we need to be and the nice thing about that is we're aligned. We need to do better.
"Every now and then you're going to have a blip, and we had that. So I think Thad getting back to his core, his teaching."
Author's Note: Stay tuned for a full transcript of Eleven Warriors' sit down with Gene Smith, coming Friday morning.
