Chris Holtmann received a call from a colleague after last week’s Wisconsin game.
Actually, the first call came during the second half of the contest, but Holtmann was preoccupied. The Ohio State head coach had just been ejected from the game after a heated exchange with the officiating crew, and Holtmann had to watch his team play the rest of the way from the back of the Schottenstein Center.
Holtmann’s fiery display was the reason Tom Izzo dialed his number.
“Are you all right?” Izzo asked.
“Not really, Tom,” Holtmann replied.
Of course, Holtmann had more to be upset about than just the ejection. The Buckeyes dropped their eighth game out of nine that night and have gone on to lose two more in a row since then. Holtmann hasn’t gone through a worse stretch since the 2010-11 campaign with Gardner-Webb, which was his first as a head coach. Now nearing the end of his sixth season in Columbus, there’s little doubt that this one stings a bit more.
"Whether you’d call it a mentor or a friend, he’s definitely that, and he’s been that for me. He reaches out."– Chris Holtmann on Tom Izzo
It wasn’t his first call with Izzo, and it won’t be the last. The Michigan State head coach will try to hand Holtmann his sixth straight loss on Sunday, but Izzo has aided him through the hardships of a disastrous season.
“The coaching fraternity is special. There are certainly all the things that go into it; competitiveness and the reality is if you’re playing your friend, you’re rooting for them to lose. Tom’s been unbelievable in the last couple years,” Holtmann said. “It really has come to pass really in the past two or three years where I would consider him, whether you’d call it a mentor or a friend, he’s definitely that, and he’s been that for me. He reaches out. I think he tried to call me in the second half of the Wisconsin game. Obviously, I didn’t have my cellphone on. He’s obviously a guy that I listen to. Because he’s got incredible wisdom, and he’s been through it.”
Izzo isn’t the only coach Holtmann sought guidance from. Well-respected in the industry, Holtmann’s built relationships during his time coaching in both the Big Ten and the Big East that he draws upon for inspiration and advice.
Holtmann’s even received words of encouragement from non-basketball coaches, citing Ryan Day as a figure he’s frequently conversed with amid rough stretches.
“No one knows what this is like and what losing feels like other than coaches. Those three guys have been great,” Holtmann said. “Ryan Day, he’s been another guy that we’ve talked regularly with.”
During an interview session on Tuesday, Day said he and Holtmann “talk all the time” and believes he’s “one of the best coaches in the country.”
“He’s gonna do a great job moving forward,” Day said.
Holtmann said he often speaks with Providence head coach Ed Cooley and former Villanova head coach Jay Wright, whom he’s never shied away from showering with praise. Holtmann called Wright the “statesman” of the Big East ahead of his NCAA Tournament matchup with the Wildcats a year ago, and given his national championship pedigree, Holtmann takes his words to heart.
Now a college basketball analyst for CBS/Turner Sports, Holtmann believes Wright can also provide him with a beneficial outside point of view.
“We haven’t been through a stretch like this, and when I haven’t been through a stretch like this, really dating back to my first or second year as a head coach, you are leaning on guys that might be able to just give you a different perspective,” Holtmann said. “So Ed Cooley at Providence is a good friend that has checked in on a regular basis. Jay Wright is a guy that has been an incredible resource during this stretch. Tom has been phenomenal. And I could name a few other guys. They’ve just been consistent, and sometimes it’s a different set of eyes that maybe is seeing your game that can give you a perspective.
“Jay’s in the business of watching our teams play right now because he’s had us a few times. So he can give real wisdom in terms of just what his perspective is. And he’s also had moments dating back to Villanova that he’s shared with me where they struggled. “
As for Ohio State’s upcoming opponent, Izzo has spoken up on Holtmann’s behalf before. The last time Michigan State came to Columbus, Izzo took aim at the Buckeye fan base by saying he was “disappointed” in the game day atmosphere – or lack thereof – given Ohio State’s caliber of play.
"The way they were playing, this place should be rocking and packed,” Izzo said on March 3, 2022.
Ohio State isn’t playing well enough to warrant riotous fan turnout late in the 2022-23 season, but Izzo’s still been available to help Holtmann nonetheless.
Holtmann said taking advice from anyone with an opinion is an overwhelming endeavor, but he knows voices like Izzo’s are not ones to tune out.
“I’d be foolish not to listen to those guys, to pick their brain,” Holtmann said. “In stretches like this, you can listen to too many people, too, and that can distort, maybe confuse you. So as much as possible, I’d like to listen to a few guys.”
