WASHINGTON D.C. — Inside Ohio State’s locker room Wednesday night, following a stunning 66–57 loss to Rutgers in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, Trevor Thompson sat slouched in his chair with his head buried in both of his hands.
It was a perfect way to illustrate the feeling of what just occurred on the floor at the Verizon Center in the hours prior and, really, a perfect summation of the Buckeyes’ season.
Ohio State's tumultuous year had hit the lowest of points.
“[Rutgers] punked us,” said Jae’Sean Tate, seated to Thompson’s right.
It certainly felt that way.
Because in a season filled with plenty of low points, the moments directly following this loss to the Scarlet Knights were rock bottom.
“[Assistant coach Chris] Jent kind of touched on it after the game but I think we all kind of have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we actually care about this program, this university, the fans and each other,” point guard JaQuan Lyle said. “Myself included, I feel like sometimes we don’t play with the heart and passion that we should so I think that’s the biggest thing.”
This is the second-straight season in which Ohio State will miss the NCAA tournament. Head coach Thad Matta is nearing the end of his 13th season at the helm. Matta is the most accomplished coach in school history, but the last two seasons have not been up to the high standards he set. He would be the first to admit this.
Questions — mostly from fans — about Matta's status with the program somewhat blew up the last couple of weeks. So much so that Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith put out a statement earlier Wednesday to publicly support the Buckeyes’ head coach. Matta will return next season for his 14th in Columbus.
But it’s pretty clear — crystal after this loss to Rutgers — something must change.
“This is a fickle business we do,” Matta said inside the locker room. “Unless somebody is intimately involved on a daily basis [they don’t know] and they choose the negative side.”
“Gene and I met a couple weeks ago and he asked me if I wanted to make a statement and I said no, we don’t have to do that. Today, he asked ‘Do we need to do this? People aren’t going to let this thing go.’ I said, ‘If you want to do it, you can do it.’ It blows my mind that sports is at this level. It’s amazing how something like that can become a focal point. But it is what it is and you just keep rolling with it.”
The bulk of Ohio State’s roster is coming back next season. This is a team with just one senior, Marc Loving, and the rest of the players are eligible to return should they choose.
The Buckeyes are adding two recruits in their 2017 class, they’ll get Keita Bates-Diop back and Derek Funderburk will no longer be a redshirt. There will be a few minor additions to the roster, but the majority of the personnel will be the same.
“I’ve just got to look at how we can reach a group of guys better somehow, someway,” Matta said. “Change is hard, but it can be done.”
There won’t be a change at head coach nor will there be a complete overhaul of the roster. So it’s got to be a collective effort between a coaching staff and a core group of players. It's certainly not going to be an easy thing to do and truth is, Matta probably only has one more year to get it right. Another missed NCAA tournament next season, that simply can't happen at Ohio State.
So, what exactly needs to change? What can be done to get the Buckeyes back to where they're used to being? Tate was asked that very question.
“There’s a lot of things that have to change,” he said. “We’ve just got to pay more attention to detail and take the same approach to practice every day. We’ve got to work harder in the offseason. Be coachable, listen to our coaches.
“But primarily, every time we’ve got to take that floor we’ve got to play like it’s our last one. Going into my senior year, I’m going to play my ass off every game.”
