The secret to the success of Ohio State basketball can be found on the roster.

Dont bother with the names.

Look at the hometowns.

Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Solon, Ohio. Findlay, Ohio. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and on down the line. Add it up, and 10 of the 15 players on Ohio States current roster are from the state of Ohio. So if youre looking for a reason why Thad Matta has turned the schools basketball program into a dominant force that helped land OSU on the CBSSports.com list of the nations best combined football/basketball schools, thats a good place to start, with the hometowns of the players responsible for the rise to prominence.

“We have a lot of talent in the state of Toledo, Ohio. “There are players everywhere, and Ohio State is working really hard to keep that talent in Ohio.”

Talk to coaches about what makes a job great, and theyll almost always tell you the same things: A strong financial commitment from the administration, first-class facilities, and a natural recruiting base. Ohio State has all three, and the perfect coach to take advantage of all three.

Thad Matta is terrific.

He spent his first four years as a college head coach winning championships at three different schools (Butler, Xavier and OSU) in three different leagues (Horizon, Atlantic-10, Big Ten), and hes made eight of the nine NCAA tournaments for which his teams have been eligible. Hes won at least a share of seven league titles in 10 seasons as a coach and at least a share of three of the past five Big Ten championships. So its probably safe to assume Matta would win regardless of whether he was at Ohio State or Oregon State, but the fact that hes at Ohio State means theres no ceiling on what can be accomplished.

Has Matta won a national title yet?

No.

Flourishing Five: No. 3 Ohio State Ohio State football Dennis Dodd No doubt Ohio State is a force. With five straight seasons atop the Big Ten, Jim Tressels program helped cement Ohio States spot on our super schools list. Read >> Ohio State basketball SeasonOverallTourney 2005-0626-61-1 2006-0735-45-1 2007-0824-130 Big Ten regular-s 2008 NIT tournament champions
Draft picks PlayerPick (Year)Team Greg Oden1 (2007)Portland Mike Conley Jr.4 (2007)Memphis Daequan Cook21 (2007)Philadelphia Kosta Koufos23 (2008)Utah B.J. Mullens24 (2009)Dallas Evan Turner2 (2010)Philadelphia
Recruiting MaxPreps.com: Ohio St. hoops recruiting thrives Series rundown No. 5 Pittsburgh: Football | Basketball No. 4 Wisconsin: Football | Basketball No. 2: August 2 No. 1: August 5 But remember, hes only 43. My guess is that hell get that national title before hes 53, because a coach who stacks heralded recruits on top of each other should eventually cut nets, and I dont see any reason to think Matta wont continue to stack heralded recruits on top of each other, mostly because recruits in Ohio and the surrounding areas are pretty much stacked on top of each other, year after year after year.

Consider that Matta has signed eight McDonalds All-Americans in his past five Daequan Cook (2006), Kosta Koufos (2007), William Buford (2008), B.J. Mullens &#04 Mike Conley (2006), Greg Oden &#0 were from bordering Indiana, less than 200 miles away from the Ohio State campus, point being that Matta took over the OSU program at a time when the area was producing or about to produce a flurry of elite prospects.

“I had no idea; I really didnt,” Matta said when I asked, back when he was recruiting Sullinger, if he recognized the string of dominant post players that would come through when he accepted the Ohio State job in 2004. “The only one I knew was Greg. That was really about it.”

But Oden has been far from it. Koufos (attended high school 128 miles from the OSU campus) and Mullens (attended high school 15 miles from the OSU campus) were also both talented enough a Columbus native whom Buford will almost certainly have the opportunity to be the fourth Ohio State post player in the past five years to be selected in the first round when the 2011 NBA Draft rolls around next June.

Its a remarkable amount of area-talent. Matta capitalizing on it despite constant turnover on his staff has allowed the Buckeyes to average 27 wins the past five seasons, and theyll enter next season with a top 10 ranking even without reigning CBSSports.com National Player of the Year Evan Turner, the second overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Whats more, the success rooted in local recruiting has helped Matta expand his recruiting horizons, proof being how Ohio State is now seriously involved with a consensus top 10 prospect from Chicago (Anthony Davis) and Memphis (Adonis Thomas).

“Thad Matta and his staff are good enough at their jobs that they can go out of state and get some guys,” said Evan Daniels, a national recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “His staff is putting him on the right guys, and hes pretty good at closing the deal. So theyve established themselves, and they can recruit anywhere in the country. Obviously, there are certain pockets that are tough for anyone to get a player out of. But theyve had enough success that they can now go out and throw their hat in the ring with anybody, and people will listen.”

The result is winning seasons, one after another.

The end is nowhere in sight.

Posted on July 30th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: NCAA basketball news