Louisville Basketball: 8 candidates to watch for potential HC opening

Chris Holtmann

Leaving no stone unturned means Louisville needs to examine all the available options. After what Payne accomplished in a decade with Kentucky, many thought he’d be a home run hire, whether with Louisville or any collegiate program as a leader. Clearly, this did not happen, but there are other potential names out there, including another from this very state.

A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Holtmann was a player and assistant at a number of non-D1 schools early in his career, beginning as a player at Brescia in his home state. After coaching under former college teammate John Groce at Ohio, he began his head coaching career at Gardner-Webb. He later ascended to the Butler head coaching job in 2014, winning four Tourney games in three seasons before heading to Ohio State in 2017. While he’s coming off a tough sixth season with the Buckeyes, he’s won at least 20 games and led the program to the Big Dance in each other season.

For Holtmann, the Louisville job could be an ideal opportunity, especially coming off a tough stretch with the Buckeyes. It’s not so much escaping Columbus, but launching himself anew after failing to lead Ohio State to the second round of the Big Dance. We’re not exactly selling Holtmann here, but this guy took Butler to the Sweet Sixteen early into their tenure in the Big East. He’s a winner and a great recruiter and there’s certainly reason to believe he can be successful in the ACC back in his home state.