“They have a lot of work to do at OSU to ever make the program consistently competitive beyond the first round of the NCAA tournament.” – Marc Disch (Press Pros File photo)
A veritable grab bag of reader comments about Dayton and Ohio State basketball, the firing of Chris Holtmann, expanding Ohio high school sports to seven divisions, and…what would Ohio State do if baseball became very good, and very popular?
At 21-4, Dayton basketball has again captured the fancy of most Ohio NCAA basketball enthusiasts. Still, one reader, in particular, wrote to ask why they can be so disappointing when you least expect.
“While I’m thrilled to see the Dayton Flyers having another great season, is there a reason why they occasionally play so poorly, like they did against an obscure school like VCU (Virginia Commonwealth).” … Monica Thieman
(Ed. Note: By rights, I probably should pass you along to Hal McCoy, the man who handles all things UD basketball for us. But I would suppose that what happened to Purdue when they played Ohio State last weekend is the same as what happened to Dayton when they played VCU. And to be fair, Virginia Commonwealth is not on obscure school in basketball. They’ve been good for years and frequently appear in the NCAA tournament.)
The firing of Chris Holtmann as Ohio State’s basketball coach brought these comments:
“Holtmann was a perfect example of the current culture of Ohio State basketball. It’s like sitting in a morgue when you attend a game compared to the atmosphere at Dayton, and it’s hard to believe that they’ll ever put the energy and investment into a winning basketball program like they do with football.” … Jack Niess
“How in the world did Holtmann ever get four million out of Ohio State to coach basketball in the first place?” … Harvey Butcher, Jr.
“This is what happens when Ohio State puts all of its championship eggs in one basket, like it does with football. It has to be hard to convince top recruits that basketball is as much a priority as football.” … James Haddix
(Ed. Note: To support your point, is this the reason that Texas basketball is what it is, compared to the expectation for Texas football? Duke basketball compared to Duke football?)
“Personally, I got tired of hearing Holtmann talk about how wonderful Butler was when he took the job. He should have stayed there.” … David Courtney
“I agree with Bruce Hooley when he writes that he (Holtmann) made too many recruiting mistakes, believing mid-major talent could develop into a Big Ten player.” … Tim Meiring
“Holtmann was the tip of the iceberg. They have a lot of work to do at OSU to ever make the program consistently competitive beyond the first round of the NCAA tournament. It’s a terrible basketball facility, priority for basketball is questionable, and they’ve gone too far with this squeaky clean, academic image of Ohio State athletes, in all sports.” … Marc Disch
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The recent decision of the Ohio High School Athletic Association to expand basketball and selected spring sports to seven division led these writers to comment:
“It’s hard to understand that if there are fewer kids playing sports now (down 14% nationally, USA Today) how this really matters? I’m going to write this as a reminder that if it looks and smells like a further-watered-down product from what it already is, how can it be anything but that? I’m sure I’m not the only citizen in Ohio who wonders that with all the other problems facing our schools, why do we keep justifying the priority for more sports opportunity over math, science, and the arts? Has anyone noticed the decline in math and reading proficiency compared to the rest of the world?” … Max Jessup
“To the point made in last week’s article by Alan Brads, quoting Butler OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute about giving athletes the opportunity to compete in tournament play against schools the same size as they play in the regular season, I would remind him that competition is about the size of the fight in the dog, and not the size of the dog in the fight.” … Duane Rollins
In response to the early writings we’ve posted about Ohio State baseball, our friend Don Motz wrote to ask:
Ohio State never spent as much on a non-conference schedule before Bill Mosiello (above), who says they’d like to play in Puerto Rico and against SEC schools by 2026.
“If Ohio State baseball ever gets really good, and popular, and competes for national championships, how will the university respond in proportion to the support for other, bigger, and more profitable sports you wrote about in your recent article (Some Predictions, Feb. 14)?” … Don Motz
(Ed. Note: Don, your question is really a good one, and one towards which few people would even venture optimism, perhaps even at Ohio State? I can’t answer it, of course. But I will counter with the fact that what they’re dedicating to staff, recruiting, travel, and non-conference competition currently is much, much more than they did previous to the hire of Bill Mosiello. In fact, Mosiello recently shared on the current First Person interview that their 2026 schedule includes a trip to Puerto Rico and three weeks of play at Southeast Conference schools – Florida, Mississippi State, and Ole’ Miss. In addition, Bill Davis Stadium is now twenty years old and might require some upgrades consummate with customer demands if suddenly 5,000 starting showing up per game. Your question is classic chicken or the egg, and it’s always fun to watch how that plays out. But I sense good things for the future of Ohio State baseball.)
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