Ohio State Basketball: Greg McDermott and Fred Hoiberg turn down the Buckeyes
Head coach Greg McDermott will stay at Creighton.
Creighton head coach Greg McDermott announced that he has turned down the Ohio State via Twitter.
I'm blessed and honored to be the coach at Creighton.....and am looking forward to many more great years in Omaha! #rolljays
— Coach McDermott (@cucoachmac) June 8, 2017
McDermott had met with the Buckeyes’ brass to discuss their head coach opening on Wednesday night and left the meeting with a job offer per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.
Ohio State is looking for a new head coach after the Buckeyes and Thad Matta “mutually” parted ways. Matta had three years remaining on his contract, and the Buckeyes will pay him a $9 million buyout.
Related Story: Ohio State Basketball: 5 potential replacements for Thad Matta
McDermott guided the Bluejays to a 25-10 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season. The 52-year old has had tremendous success in his seven seasons in Omaha (Neb.) finishing with 20-plus wins six times. He is 165-85 during his tenure at Creighton, which includes going 81-52 in the four years since the Bluejays joined the Big East. Overall, McDermott has compiled a 445-276 overall record.
McDermott and the Bluejays will not have 7’0″ center Justin Patton roaming the middle, as he left early for the NBA draft. Creighton should be in decent shape, however, as leading scorer Marcus Foster and fellow double-digit scorer Khyri Thomas return. McDermott currently has three players for his 2017-18 recruiting class with two open spots remaining. Ty-Shon Alexander, a 6’4″ guard, is the feature recruit of the three four-star prospects.
It will be interesting who Ohio State will turn to next. Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg also has reportedly has turned down the Buckeyes, as have Arizona’s Sean Miller and Xavier’s Chris Mack. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Billy Donovan won’t be going to Columbus either.
Next: Potential replacements for Thad Matta
The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that AD Gene Smith is going to meet with Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown today. Brown has never coached in college. OSU assistant coach Chris Jent is the only other candidate to have met with Smith.