NCAA Tournament: Ohio State only concerned with present

Seth Towns did not play all season while fellow veteran wing Justice Sueing missed most of the year.

Then late in the season they dealt with big guys Zed Key and Kyle Young being unavailable. In a Big Ten Tournament loss to Penn State, reserve point guard Meechie Johnson was out, too, and Ohio State lost for the fourth time in its last five games.

The status of Key, Young and Johnson is uncertain as the Buckeyes prepare to face Loyola-Chicago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but Ohio State head coach Holtmann left no doubt he and his team are grateful for the chance to keep playing for all the marbles.

“I think guys are excited about this opportunity and excited about celebrating the position they’ve been able to put themselves in,” Holtmann said after his team was assigned a No. 7 seed. “Certainly we would have liked to finish the season better than what we did — playing better and healthier — but this is obviously a new season. It is the postseason, and I think our guys are looking forward to the opportunity to compete on Friday.”

Holtmann enters his fifth postseason at Ohio State — counting the one that was wiped out for everyone two years ago — in a bit of an odd spot.

He was hired away from Butler to improve the program, and he appears to have done that — at least minimally.

After winning at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title every year from 2010-12, the Buckeyes finished progressively lower in the standings each of the last five years under Thad Matta.

They tied for 10th in Matta’s final year and missed the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive season.

Holtmann arguably overachieved his first season, finishing in a tie for second place, but his team has not finished higher than fourth since.

However, he has at least restored the Buckeyes to perennial NCAA Tournament team, something he pointed out should not be taken for granted.

Holtmann noted Ohio State is one of only four Big Ten teams to make every NCAA Tournament that was held since his first year — joining Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan — and that total is lower than he would have expected before he looked it up.

“So there’s an appreciation for that and then obviously a real hunger to advance and to play well,” he said. “I think that’s the challenge, but every coach will tell you he wants to get in this big party that you only get an invitation to, or you earn the right to through your conference tournament. And I’ve had our guys that have come from other schools share experiences of what it’s like, either to be on spring break on Selection Sunday, or back home with your family on Selection Sunday and just kind of avoid it because you know it’s out there and you got buddies who are playing in it but you’re not going to be in it.

“It can be a miserable experience for kids, and we’ve had a difficult stretch, so we wanted to enjoy this moment and then move to working towards Loyola.”

Holtmann was hired to do more than make the tournament, though.

Ohio State basketball has long been viewed as a sleeping giant, and Matta’s early success — five Big Ten titles and two Final Fours in his first seven seasons — wetted the appetite for fans to see the basketball team join OSU football as a perennial powerhouse.

There is grumbling about Holtmann’s ability to be the coach to restore the Buckeyes to that level, but his job appears to be safe for now.

Ohio State Director of Athletics Gene Smith said as much when he met with reporters last month, indicating he is happy with Holtmann and wants to see what he does with a highly-regarded recruiting class signed last fall.

“At some point, we’re going to look at an extension even if we haven’t yet,” Smith said. “I’m really happy where we are. We strive for championships, there’s no question about that. We need to get there and we will. You look at his recruiting and it’s off the chain.”

In the mean time, Holtmann taking the Buckeyes to their 12th Final Four would be a big surprise, but he could quiet some critics by getting Ohio State to the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2013.

Of course, doing that might require upsetting No. 2 seed Villanova, but first there are the Ramblers to worry about.

“I just think all in all really our focus is on the nuts and bolts of trying to improve on the areas we need to improve and the rest will take care of itself,” Holtmann said.

FRIDAY’S GAME

Ohio State vs. Loyola, 12:15 p.m., CBS, 1410