It's the end of an era in Columbus as Gene Smith announced this afternoon Thad Matta would no longer patrol the sidelines as head coach of Ohio State basketball.
Despite Matta's overwhelming success during 13 years at the helm, four straight seasons of declining production and no magic recruiting bullets in sight split the fanbase as some held out hope he could regain form while others were beyond ready to throw in the towel.
One thing it seems virtually everyone can agree on is Thad Matta restored the glory not consistently felt since Fred Taylor guided the Buckeyes and for that he should be celebrated.
Yes, I'm absolutely in the camp that felt a change was necessary but I can feel that way and still believe Matta was the man and should be saluted for raising the bar.
As we bid adieu to Matta, here's a sampling of his exploits by the numbers:
- 337 wins - most in school history (F. Taylor is 2nd with 297)
- .733 winning percentage - best in school history for any coach with more than two years on the job
- 150 conference wins - 3rd best in school history
- 12 20-win seasons - as part of 16 straight 20-win seasons to start his head coaching career
- 3 30-win seasons - and a pair of 29-win seasons
- 3 B1G Coach of the Year Awards - 3 more than Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel combined
NCAA tournament success:
- 9 NCAA bids
- 5 trips to at least the Sweet Sixteen
- 3 trips to at least the Elite Eight
- 2 trips to at least the Final Four
- 1 trip to the NCAA championship game
B1G Conference success:
- 5 regular season conference titles
- 4 conference tournament titles
- 20-7 record versus Michigan
- 18-9 record versus Purdue
- 13-14 record versus Wisconsin
- 12-11 record versus Indiana
- 12-16 record versus Michigan State
He recruited some beasts:
- 10 NBA Draft picks - Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr, Daequan Cook, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullens, Evan Turner, Jon Diebler, Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas, and D'Angelo Russell
- 9 All-B1G 1st Team selections - Terence Dials, Oden, Conley Jr., Jamar Butler, Turner, Thomas, Aaron Craft, Russell
- 4 B1G Freshman of the Year winners - Oden, William Buckets, Sullinger, Russell
- 2 B1G Player of the Year winners - Dials, Turner
- 2 B1G Defensive Player of the Year winners - Oden, Craft (2x)
Unfortunately, the recruiting success started to dry up which was compounded by so many early departures. The last few years weren't as kind on the legacy:
- 6 straight seasons of declining wins - from 34 in 2010-11 to 17 in 2016-17
- 4 straight seasons of increasing losses - from 8 in 2012-13 to 15 in 2016-17
- 4 straight seasons outside of the B1G's top four
I could fill this space with countless other numbers positively shaping the legacy Matta leaves in Columbus. One of which would be "0" equaling the amount of NCAA issues experienced during his tenure.
Matta was a class act and the next man up will have an awful lot to live up to thanks to the standard Matta set for the program.
