About 12 hours removed from Ohio State’s win over Purdue, Thad Matta briefly met with the media on the Big Ten teleconference Monday morning.
Matta, who is on the verge of passing Fred Taylor to become the school’s winningest coach, said, “I did not have the pleasure of ever meeting him.”
“From just what he started and the job that he did here … He stood for a lot more than basketball.”
Matta added: “He left a huge imprint on Ohio State basketball.”
But so has Matta, who has guided the Buckeyes to at least a 20-win season in all of his 11 campaigns in Columbus. In the process, Matta has also seemed to usher in a new era of basketball at Ohio State, where football is king.
Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
Asked about Thad Matta, who’s on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in Ohio State history, Izzo said Matta reminded of Lloyd Carr, the former Michigan head coach, because of how his success is more or less taken for granted in Columbus.
Matt Painter (Purdue)
After a 65-61 loss to Ohio State on Sunday night, Painter lamented the absence of senior guard Jon Octeus, who had four fouls. Painted said two of which “weren’t even close to being fouls."
Pat Chambers (Penn State)
In Big Ten play, Penn State is 3-13 and a handful of those losses have been in close games where the Nittany Lions have had chances to win the game. “Mentally and physically it’s challenging … it gnaws at you,” Chambers said. He added: “It’s never that last four minutes or last minute, but, unfortunately, that’s where we are.” They play the Buckeyes on Wednesday night.
Bo Ryan (Wisconsin)
Ryan said guard Traevon Jackson, who is dealing with a foot injury, should be healthy enough to play against the Buckeyes on Sunday. Jackson, who is the son of former Ohio State star Jim Jackson, hails from Westerville.
