When Chris Holtmann meets with the media, he often reflects on Ohio State game film from last season when discussing upcoming opponents.
In each instance, he has referred to Ohio State as "us" or "we" when discussing last year's games, even though he was the head coach at Butler when those games were played. While it's just a subtle comment, Holtmann said Friday that he wants to embrace the struggles that the Buckeyes have had in the past with his team, to help create a more unified locker room.
"I don't know that it is something I made a mental note of and said, 'Hey, I am going to say this in front of the media,' but we are all joined at the hip right now," Holtmann said. "We are connected to what's happened in the past and what is happening as we move forward."
What has happened in the past is well documented. Ohio State hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since the 2014-15 season in which it was carried by future No. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell, and failed to earn an invite to any postseason tournament a season ago. Every member of Ohio State's 2015 recruiting class has since left the program. The school's winningest head coach, Thad Matta, was fired in June.
Holtmann, much like certain first-year head coaches in college football have done, could have easily used the "it is going to take some time" approach, citing a need to get his own players into the program to have success, and not many would have sneezed at that. Instead, Holtmann has embraced the players on Ohio State's roster as his own, giving veterans like Keita Bates-Diop and Jae'Sean Tate ownership of the program, something Bates-Diop said he too has embraced.
“We are connected to what's happened in the past and what is happening as we move forward.”– Chris Holtmann
"It is not just them putting (the team) on us, we have to take it," Bates-Diop said. "You can't put it on us if we don't want it. I think me, J.T., Kam (Williams) and (Andrew) Dakich have done a good job of taking control of this team from early on, saying, 'Hey, the coaches can say whatever, but we have to enforce it.' I think the four of us have done a good job of leading this team."
Through 24 games, it would be hard to argue with the job Holtmann, his staff and his veterans have done. The Buckeyes sit at No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25, and boast a 19-5 overall record, having dropped just one conference game in 11 tries. In addition, Ohio State is projected as a No. 4 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament by ESPN's Joe Lunardi, a seeding that would be OSU's highest since 2012-13, when Matta's squad entered the Big Dance as a No. 2 seed.
Perhaps more important than the coaches' trust in Ohio State's veterans to lead is the trust of younger Buckeyes, who have bought into the unity that Holtmann and his staff are preaching. Sophomore center Micah Potter said there have been instances this season where the in-game huddles during timeouts have been run by Bates-Diop and Tate, with the coaches simply overseeing.
"It will get to the point where the older guys will coach. It happens a lot in huddles and timeouts," Potter said. "J.T. and Keita will come up and say stuff, and the coaches are like, 'Alright. Do it.' It's 'us'. Not a 'them' or 'me'. It's 'us.'"
The unified mentality and embracing of what happened in the past and combining it with the expectations for the future has Ohio State contending for a Big Ten regular-season championship. The Buckeyes' next challenge comes Sunday at home against Illinois, with tip set for noon.
