The nation is taking notice of what is happening in Columbus.
Ohio State secured its 10th win in the past 11 games on Thursday night, and on Friday afternoon head coach Chris Holtmann was named one of the 15 late-season Naismith Coach of the Year candidates.
The other candidates are Belmont's Casey Alexander, Drake's Darian DeVries, Baylor's Scott Drew, USC's Andy Enfield, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Michigan's Juwan Howard, West Virginia's Bob Huggins, Oklahoma's Lon Kruger, Loyola-Chicago's Porter Moser, Alabama's Nate Oats, Houston's Kelvin Sampson, Texas' Shaka Smith and Virginia Tech's Mike Young.
The fourth-year Buckeyes head coach has his team ranked No. 4 in the nation with an 18-4 overall record and 12-4 mark in Big Ten play, putting them third in the conference ahead of Sunday afternoon's top-five showdown with Michigan. If Ohio State can come out of the weekend with a win against the Wolverines, Holtmann would position himself as one of the frontrunners for this honor.
Ohio State, picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten ahead of the season, has blown away all expectations. It has steadily improved throughout the course of the season and is now staring at a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
This isn't Holtmann's first time being up for a Coach of the Year award. He was the John McLendon National Coach of the Year in 2017, Big South Coach of the Year in 2013, Big East Coach of the Year in 2017 and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018.
