Ryan Day Radio Show: Ryan Day Assesses Ohio State's Performance in the First Half of the Season, Chris Holtmann Shares Thoughts on the Men's Basketball Team

For the final segment of the broadcast, Chris Holtmann joined the broadcast to review the men's basketball team's games in the Bahamas in the summer and talk about recruiting, Justice Sueing, the Buckeyes' trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and the transfer portal.

Here are some of the highlights from The Ryan Day Radio Show on 97.1 The Fan:

Ryan Day

On the significance of winning the first road game

• "The first game is the biggest game," but he added that the first time a team hits the road is "probably the second" biggest game for a team because of the opponent's home-field advantage.
• "It was unique this year that it took until Week 6 to get on the road, but it was good to get the win."

On the pick-six thrown by C.J. Stroud

• Day said C.J. Stroud thought Emeka Egbuka would run a hitch because of the coverage. However, Egbuka ran a vertical seam, which led to the interception.
• Day said "nobody was spooked" by the pick-six because it was "such a strange play" based solely on a miscommunication between Stroud and Egbuka.

On being aggressive inside the opponent's 40-yard line

• "We like to stretch the field vertically in that area of the field."
• Day said Ohio State "wants to be aggressive in all areas of the field" but likes the freedom being inside the opponent's 40-yard line offers in terms of taking shots to the end zone and playing with four downs instead of three.

On the Michigan State games, the first six weeks of play

• "I think we are playing good complimentary football across the board."
• Day said the offense and defense have complete confidence that the other side of the ball will perform well once the game starts and throughout the game.
• "I think all three phases, as we head into the back half of the season, have to continue to play together."

On playing depth in the first half of the season

• "Good to get these guys some work into the bye week."
• Day said he hopes playing depth in the first six games pays off in the second half of the season when Ohio State faces some tougher opponents like Iowa, Penn State and Michigan.

On Miyan Williams, TreVeyon Henderson

• "You see in back-to-back weeks where both guys had to carry the load, which is good."
• "The holes are there, but they are running hard."
• "The bye week gives us a chance to get healthy so both of them can be ready for the Iowa game."
• Day said TreVeyon Henderson would have returned to the Michigan State game if the score would have been closer. He said it "was a good time to get Dallan (Hayden) in there."

On Marvin Harrison Jr.

• Day said "we drill that all the time... it's unbelievable coaching" in reference to Marvin Harrison Jr.'s third touchdown catch that required some special acrobatics. "No, it's God-given ability," he said with a laugh.
• "The thing for me about Marvin is that he's disciplined... If you asked the guys, 'Who is the hardest person on the team?' I think they would say Marvin Harrison Jr."
• Day said Harrison is incredibly disciplined and that's what allows him to play at such a high level. Day thinks his combination of God-given talent and hard work makes him on the best in the nation at the receiver position.

On the Ohio State defense against Michigan State, the safety room

• "When our first group was out there, it was really good."
• Day said Ohio State's defense lives and dies with the play of the defensive line.
• "Lathan had the big play. He carried a lot of ground on that interception... A lot of guys, they fall to the ground and that ball pops up and hits the ground."
• "The play of Ronnie Hickman has been excellent for us... He's been really good." Day said Hickman has also been a tremendous leader for the Buckeyes, especially in the safety room.
• Day said the safety room has some of the best depth on the team with Ransom, Hickman, Josh Proctor, Tanner McCalister, Cam Martinez and others.

On Iowa, its defense

• "It's consistency. Their defensive coordinator has been there for a long time... They know how teams want to attack their defense."
• "They play week in and week out the same way."
• Day said Iowa recruits "to a system" on defense which helps them create an identity on that side of the football. "That's why they've been so good over the years. They're tough."

On Ohio State's schedule during the off week

• Every coach will recruit during the off week, Day said. "Monday we are on the road recruiting. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we have practice... Friday is recruiting and Saturday is our only day off."
• Day said Ohio State's players will have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off and away from the facility, but he mentioned that there is "a quick turnaround" as the Buckeyes will return to practice on Monday.

On how he wears a black hat for every game

• Day said he always wears a black hat for his games. "That happened naturally, but also I think it's neat that Woody Hayes wore one back in the day, so now I wear one."
• That tradition started for Day when he was an interim coach for Ohio State in 2018. He said someone in the program put out a black hat and other gear in his locker before the Oregon State game, so he wore it then, against TCU and made it a tradition after that.

On his players' academic performance through the first six weeks

• Day said Ohio State's players are doing well with their academics but admit that "it's a work in progress."
• Day said some players are doing better than others in the classroom and said the Buckeyes "ask a lot of" their players to perform well on the field and in the classroom.
• The players that are doing well are incredibly disciplined and have learned the balance required to be a good student and a good athlete.

On C.J. Stroud

• Day said all Stroud wants to do this season is win football games this season. He believes Stroud's statistics will follow if that mindset is at the forefront of his mind for the rest of the year.
• Day said there have been several different game scripts for Ohio State to win games this season, but Stroud has remained consistent in his approach. After six games, Day said Stroud's stats are among the best in the nation because of his consistency.
• "He's playing at the highest level compared to most guys in the country."

Chris Holtmann

On football games helping with recruiting

• "It's a great opportunity to showcase this place."
• "It's been great for our recruits... Our recruiting is at the highest level it's ever been."
• Holtmann said Ohio State's 2022 class rounded out well, and he believes the 2023 and 2024 classes can be just as talented and impactful for the Buckeyes.

On his staff handling recruiting weekends in the fall

• Holtmann said it was a fast-paced five weeks for his program, but "now it starts to slow down."
• Holtmann said "NASA would've been proud of the coordination we put together" for basketball visitors for the football team's Notre Dame game. "It was wild."
• Holtmann said there were plenty of players who visited officially and unofficially and joked that fans can figure out who he is talking about in both instances. For unofficial, he is likely referring to Bronny James, son of NBA star LeBron James.

On Justice Sueing

• "He's so important for us."
• Holtmann said losing Zed Key last season for some games hurt the Buckeyes. "He has multi-dimensional skills... We really missed him last year."
• "He’s fully healthy now, thank goodness, and we’re really hoping and praying that he’s going to have the last season of college basketball that he deserves.”
• Holtmann said Ohio State can maximize Sueing's talent by using him as a playmaker. He thinks Sueing's versatility to play on the wing as a guard and forward and inside as a big allows the Buckeyes to play at a high level offensively.

On the Bahamas trip, playing the Puerto Rican and Egyptian teams

• "It did help. The competition that we played was better than what you typically play over there, so that was a good experience for us."
• "We got tested over there."
• Holtmann said some players "performed better than I thought," while other players showed that they might not be ready for the physicality of college basketball and playing against older, stronger players.

On the trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational

• "It's gonna be a lot of fun."
• Holtmann said his team gets to do a trip like the one to the Bahamas every four years. But they can play in a tournament like the Maui Invitational every season. "It will be a really challenging tournament."
• "We will need some time to get our body adjusted because we will have four days until we play at Duke."
• Holtmann joked that the ACC and Big Ten schedulers didn't do his team any favors by placing the Duke game immediately after his team's trip to Hawaii. "It will be a really fun game in Cameron Indoor."

On the transfer portal

• Holtmann said he talked with several coaches at Big Ten Media Days about how to best use the transfer portal to the advantage of their programs.
• Holtmann said he's not actively looking at the transfer portal until the season is over. "We don't really pay a lot of attention to it until the end of the year comes," but says Ohio State would "be foolish not to use it."