Basketball

[edit] Early years and Olsen era (1898–1958)
The first basketball team at The Ohio State University was formed in 1892, playing their first game against East High. Sparing success followed the Buckeyes throughout their time as an independent school. In the year 1912, some thirteen years after forming their first basketball team, the Buckeyes joined the Big Nine Conference, which would eventually be known as the Big Ten Conference. Within the first years in the Big Ten conference, the Buckeyes were not able to mount a sustained run and continued to waiver inside the conference standings, never finishing higher than second in the conference standings[1]|undefined. In 1923, Harold Olsen became head coach for the Buckeyes, launching the longest basketball coaching dynasty for OSU (24 seasons) Harold Olsen began to see success at Ohio State with the Buckeyes first conference championship during the 1922–1923 season. The Olsen era is also highlighted by appearing in the final game for the first ever NCAA Championship Tournament in 1939 where the Buckeyes lost to Oregon 33–46. The Buckeyes would make three more Final Four appearances under Olsen, along with winning five Big Ten championships. Following Harold Olsen as head coach Tippy Dye and Floyd Stahl made their stints with the Buckeyes. While not seeing the same amount of success as Olsen did, Dye and Stahl with one NCAA Tournament appearance between the two men. With the closing of the 1950s, the Ohio State basketball team was not considered a national powerhouse and continued to grow and develop and led to the hiring of a man who would change basketball at Ohio State and bring national fame to the university.

[edit] Success and Fred Taylor era (1959–1997)
Of all other Buckeye coaches, it was Fred Taylor who would give Ohio State basketball its greatest claim to fame. With the hiring of Taylor in 1958, not much was expected following an 11–11 season during the 1958–1959 season. However in 1960, the second year coach, Taylor, and All-American player, Jerry Lucas, led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Championship Title, defeating California 75–55 in the final game. The 1960 championship season is the only NCAA Tournament championship that the Buckeyes have compiled since that date. Taylor's Buckeyes continued their dominance by being the runner-up the following two seasons, and making a total of five tournament appearances during Taylor's 18 seasons tenure. With the departure of his championship team, Taylor began to see teams accustomed to Ohio State basketball of the past. Taylor's last season at Ohio State in 1976 saw the Buckeyes going 6–20, the worst record only to be eclipsed by the team in 1995. Taylor also achieved seven conference titles and an impressive overall winning percentage of over 65%. Past the Taylor era, Ohio State saw Eldon Miller, Gary Williams, and Randy Ayers take the reins as head coach. Between 1976 and 1997 the Buckeyes made the NCAA Tournament only eight times, while being crowned conference champions only twice.

[edit] Jim O'Brien and NCAA violations (1998–2003)
Evan Turner set new Big Ten records for number of career and single season Player of the Week awards during the 2009–10 season.In 1997, Jim O'Brien was hired to replace head coach Randy Ayers. During his seven years as head coach, O'Brien drove the team to four 20+ win seasons, two Big Ten regular-season co-championships, the 2002 Big Ten Tournament Championship, and a school record four-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Controversy erupted when Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger fired O'Brien over alleged NCAA rules violations. A two-year NCAA investigation found that player Boban Savovic had received improper benefits and committed academic fraud while he played for Ohio State. On March 10, 2006, the NCAA gave Ohio State three years' probation and ordered it to pay back all tournament money earned from 1999–2002 when Boban Savovic was on the Buckeyes' roster. In addition, Ohio State had to remove all references to team accomplishments from those years including a 1999 visit to the Final Four.

[edit] Thad Matta era (2004–present)
In 2004 the Ohio State Buckeyes named Thad Matta as the new head coach, and he rapidly produced a promising Buckeye team. Under his leadership, OSU has already claimed five Big Ten Conference Titles, three Conference Tournament championships, and six NCAA tournament appearances, going as far as the championship game in 2007 where the Buckeyes lost to Florida 84–75. In 2008, despite having lost four starters for the second year in a row, including three first-round NBA Draft picks, the Buckeyes won the NIT, defeating UMASS, 92–85 at Madison Square Garden. During both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, Ohio State claimed both the Big Ten regular season championship and the conference tournament championship. Ohio State entered the 2010 NCAA tournament as a 2 seed, advancing to the Sweet 16 before being edged by #6 seededTennessee. The Buckeyes also entered the 2011 NCAA tournament as the overall number one seed but lost a close game in the sweet sixteen to theKentucky Wildcats, who would win the NCAA title a year later. In 2011-12 Ohio State won a share of the Big Ten regular season title. conference champs for the 3rd straight season. In the 2012 NCAA tournament, Matta led the #2 seeded Buckeyes to an upset of #1 seed Syracuse, for their second Final Four in his tenure. Matta's winning percentages for his overall record (78.6%) and conference record (72.9%) are better than any previous Buckeye coach with more than two seasons.

[edit] Facilities
St. John ArenaThe Ohio State Buckeyes presently play their home games in 19,200-seat Jerome Schottenstein Center. The first official home court for the Buckeyes was the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum. Constructed in 1918, the Buckeyes called this arena home between the years 1920 to 1955. The facility had a capacity of 7,000 people.

In 1955, a new facility was built on the campus of Ohio State named the St. John Arena named after Lynn St. John, an Ohio State basketball coach and athletic director. This building, while hosting the men's basketball team, also hosted (and still to this day hosts) volleyball, gymnastics, and wrestling. The capacity of St. John Arena is 13,276. This building is the only Buckeye arena to serve as home for an Ohio State men's basketball championship team in 1960.

With the aging St. John Arena over 40 years old, the Ohio State University decided to build the Schottenstein Center to hold men's and women's basketball as well as hockey. The 770,000 sq foot arena was completed in 1998 and seats 19,500 for basketball games.

[edit] Coaches
Current head coach Thad MattaSee also: List of Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball head coachesThe Buckeyes have had 14 coaches in their 110-year history. Their current head coach is Thad Matta, who was hired in 2004, and has led the Buckeyes to five NCAA tournament appearances and two final four appearances during the 2006-07 and 2011-2012 seasons. The only Ohio State coach to win a national championship was Fred Taylor in 1960.

[edit] Current coaching staff

 * Thad Matta - Head Coach, 9th year
 * Jeff Boals - Assistant Coach
 * Dave Dickerson - Assistant Coach
 * Chris Jent - Assistant Coach
 * Dave Richardson - Strength and Conditioning Coach
 * Vince O'Brien - Athletic Trainer
 * David Egelhoff - Director of Basketball Operations
 * Greg Paulus - Video Coordinator

[edit] Season by season results
See also: List of Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball seasonsUnder Thad Matta:

[edit] NCAA Tournament seeding history
The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

[edit] Consensus All-American selections
*National Player of the Year
 * Wes Fesler (1931)
 * Jimmy Hull (1939)
 * Dick Schnittker (1950)
 * Robin Freeman (1955)
 * Jerry Lucas (1960, 1961*, 1962*)
 * Gary Bradds (1964*)
 * Jim Jackson (1991, 1992)
 * Evan Turner (2010*)
 * Jared Sullinger (2011)

[edit] Big Ten Player of the Year

 * Dennis Hopson (1987)
 * Jim Jackson (1991, 1992)
 * Scoonie Penn (1999)
 * Terence Dials (2006)
 * Evan Turner (2010)

[edit] Big Ten Coach of the Year

 * Eldon Miller (1983)
 * Randy Ayers (1991, 1992)
 * Jim O’Brien (1999, 2001)
 * Thad Matta (2006, 2010)

[edit] First-Team All-Big Ten
All award data taken from[1]

[edit] Single-game leaders
All statistical data taken from.[2]