Chris Holtmann leaving Butler to be coach at Ohio State

The Butler Way worked for Thad Matta at Ohio State. Now the Buckeyes are going that way for their new head basketball coach.

Butler's Chris Holtmann has accepted an offer to be Ohio State's new coach, a source told IndyStar today. Holtmann succeeds Thad Matta, 49, a former Butler player and coach whose 13-year tenure with the Buckeyes ended Monday.

Holtmann turned down an Ohio State offer on Tuesday, according to a source, but officials from the university persisted and landed their man. Holtmann is accepting an eight-year deal worth $3.1 million a year, according to a source. He was making about $1.2 million a year at Butler, which recently extended his contract through 2024-25.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Ohio State has scheduled a news conference today on campus to announce Holtmann's appointment. However, a source told IndyStar there is "zero chance" that there actually would be such a news conference today.

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Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is scheduled to fly by private plane to Indianapolis today, according to the Dispatch.

Other candidates have included two other Big East coaches, Creighton's Greg McDermott and Xavier's Chris Mack. McDermott reportedly met Wednesday with Ohio State officials but chose to stay at Creighton.

Holtmann was 70-31 in three seasons at Butler. He was previously 44-54 in three years at Gardner-Webb.

He was coach of the year in the Big East in 2017 and in the Big South in 2013.

Holtmann left Gardner-Webb to become an assistant coach under Brandon Miller in 2013. Miller took a medical leave of absence in October 2014, never returned, and Holtmann was promoted to head coach. He became the fifth consecutive Butler coach to be promoted from assistant, following Matta, Todd Lickliter, Brad Stevens and Miller.

Holtmann is a native of Nicholasville, Ky., and a graduate of Taylor University. He was honored this year by CollegeInsider.com with the John McLendon Award as college basketball’s coach of the year. The McLendon Award encompasses NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and junior colleges.

The Bulldogs were picked for sixth in the Big East. They finished second, went 25-9 and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011. They were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by eventual national champion North Carolina.

Holtmann is 3-0 in NCAA tournament first-round games. North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey are the only other active coaches to lead their current teams to NCAA tourney wins in each of their first three seasons.

Holtmann was previously linked to searches by North Carolina State and Missouri this year, by Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech in 2016, and by Tennessee in 2015.

The Bulldogs are facing an overhaul in 2017-18, featuring seven new scholarship players. They are bringing in five freshmen who represent the highest-rated recruiting class in program history (ranked 27^th by ESPN).

Butler is in the Top 25 of at least five preseason 2017-18 rankings, topped by No. 16 by both Yahoo! Sports and The Sporting News. Butler has two potential first-team All-Big East players in forward Kelan Martin and guard Kamar Baldwin.

IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel contributed to this report.

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.