Kam Williams knew he was going to hear about it.
Ohio State’s redshirt senior guard was going through a defensive drill during a summer workout Wednesday when he failed to properly close out. Almost instantly, Williams heard the voice of new Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann.
“[Wednesday] we were doing a little defensive drill and I didn’t close out the way I should have closed out and he kind of got into me a little bit,” Williams said. “But the defensive side is where I want to make the most strides so I don’t mind hearing that every day.”
“I can mess up 99 times but hearing that every single time is just motivation to get better and get it the 100th time if that’s what I’ve gotta do.”
Holtmann’s bluntness was something Williams singled out as one of the very first things he noticed. There is no sugarcoating, he says, and that’s a good thing.
“He tells you what you need to hear. He doesn’t tell you what you want to hear,” Williams said of his new coach. “If you’re messing up, he’s going to let you know immediately and there’s no beating around the bush. None of that. He’s going to let you know.”
“That’s exactly what we need at this important time,” Williams continued. “I’m not saying that wasn’t the case prior to him coming but that’s one thing that really took my eye and that I really enjoyed about him.”
Holtmann was hired June 9 as the replacement for Thad Matta. Ohio State opted to part ways with Matta after 13 seasons; Holtmann, undoubtedly, has some big shoes to fill.
But it was quite clear from the beginning Holtmann wanted to make his presence felt. Just a short period of time after he was hired, Holtmann suspended Derek Funderburk for “failure to meet team expectations.” Funderburk was then dismissed from the program last Friday.
There’s been a bit of transition for the players on the team. That’s to be expected, though, with any coaching change. Williams said it’s going to take some time for both sides to get adjusted.
“It’s just like a totally different dynamic,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to feel each other out with what each side likes and doesn’t like. I think it’s been pretty good. There’s a lot of good cohesiveness so I’m excited to just get practice and everything else rolling.”
This is a difficult time for both sides. It's a new coaching staff coming to an entirely different program with players they didn't recruit. But it's also a core of talent that was used to doing things one way for quite some time.
There will be bumps along the way.
But so far, so good, according to the player who has been at Ohio State the longest now: Williams.
“They’re very eager to get to work, very hungry to get everything rolling so I’m very excited about that,” Williams said. “Everything around here is obviously different and I just see it as a new challenge, honestly.”
