Matta Accepts Offer to Coach Men’s Basketball at Ohio State – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 8, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio–Andy Geiger, Ohio State director of athletics, announced Thursday the hiring of Thad Matta as the new head coach of the Buckeyes’ men’s basketball team. A press conference to formally introduce the former Xavier head coach will be held at 3 p.m. Friday.
Matta (pronounced Mah-tuh) takes over the Ohio State program after coaching Xavier the last three seasons. He inherits a Buckeye squad that finished 14-16 a year ago with a 6-10 record in the Big Ten, which tied for ninth in the regular-season standings. He is the 13th head coach in Ohio State history.
Matta, a Hoopeston, Ill., native was offered and then accepted the position Wednesday after a month-long search. He will be given a seven-year contract with a first-year salary of $760,000, a signing bonus of $300,000 and deferred compensation over seven years of $2,000,000. Complete terms of the contract have not been finalized.
Geiger said Matta was selected after a month-long search.
“We are bringing in a wonderful teacher of the game and a tireless worker whose enthusiasm will elevate Ohio State basketball,” Geiger said. “I am very excited to have Thad Matta here.”
Karen Holbrook, The Ohio State University president, was impressed with Matta during the interview process.
“I am delighted that Ohio State has captured a leading, national talent to head our men’s basketball program,” Holbrook said. “Coach Matta has all of the energy, drive, integrity and ambition for Ohio State’s players to excel in every aspect of their athletic and academic careers at our university.
“We welcome Thad, Barbara, Ali and Emily Matta as our newest members of the Buckeye family.”
Matta, a finalist for the 2002-03 Naismith National Coach of the Year Award, will begin his duties immediately. The July recruiting evaluation period began this week.
Matta was 78-23 (.772) in three years as Xavier’s head coach and is 102-31 (.767) in four years as a collegiate head coach. He coached one season at Butler, his alma mater, before taking the Xavier post. He led the Musketeers to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2004, the best NCAA tournament run in program history.
The Musketeers won 16 of their last 18 games a year ago. His Xavier teams were 19-4 in March.
Matta, the 2004 Columbus Dispatch Coach of the Year, led Xavier to three-consecutive 26-win seasons, back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championships in 2002 and 2003 and a league tournament title in 2004. Xavier advanced to three NCAA tournaments, including an Elite Eight appearance last year following two second round trips. The three season totals of 26 wins are tied for the second-highest single-season win total in Xavier history with the 1987-88 team and trails only the 28 win 1989-90 “Sweet 16” season.
Matta’s 26 wins for the 2002-03 season mark the highest win total ever for a second-year XU head coach. He also broke the school record for most victories by a Xavier rookie head coach. Xavier’s 26-6 record in the 2001-02 campaign set the record.
In his three seasons at Xavier, Matta and his staff guided the Musketeers to a 78-23 (.772) record.
Xavier compiled a 47-10 (.825) record against Atlantic 10 competition under Matta, including 39-9 (.813) in the regular season and 8-1 (.889) in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. XU captured two regular season championships and two tournament titles with Matta at the helm.
Matta was named 2002 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, while leading the Musketeers to the top regular season finish in the league at 14-2 and an Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship. In addition, Matta became the only first-year coach in conference history to ever win both the A-10 regular season and tourney championships.
Matta is no stranger to conference championships. He is now 3-of-4 for regular season and conference tournaments championships as a head coach. He won regular season conference championships, conference tournament championships and conference coach of the year awards in each of his first two seasons as a head coach. Matta won all three in 2000-01 at Butler in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and duplicated that feat in the 2001-02 season at Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Matta was named 2000-01 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year in his one season at the helm at Butler after leading the Bulldogs to a school record 24 wins, while also being named National “Rookie Coach of the Year” by CBS SportsLine.com and College Insider.com. Matta had spent the previous three seasons as the top assistant to Barry Collier, who left Butler after the 1999-2000 season to take over as head coach at Nebraska.
Matta guided Butler to a 24-8 record, a MCC Regular Season Championship with an 11-3 mark, a MCC Tournament championship and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Butler won 13 of its last 15 games, including a 58-44 upset win at then 10th-ranked Wisconsin and a 79-63 bashing of then 23rd-ranked Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The win over Wake Forest was Butler’s first NCAA tournament win since 1962. Eventual NCAA runner-up Arizona ended the Butler run in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Matta began his coaching career at Indiana State University as a graduate assistant under head coach Tates Locke in 1990-91. Matta served as an academic coordinator and administrative assistant at Butler (1991-94) before moving into the full-time coaching ranks. Matta took his first full-time assistant coaching position under Herb Sendek at Miami (Ohio) University in 1994-95 and helped Miami to a 23-7 record, a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and a first round win in the NCAA tournament.
The following year, Matta accepted a coaching position at Western Carolina University under Phil Hopkins and helped the Catamounts to a 17-13 record, the school’s first winning record in 10 years. Western Carolina captured the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Matta returned to Miami under new head coach Charlie Coles in 1996-97 and helped the RedHawks to a 21-9 record, the MAC regular season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Matta rejoined Butler’s staff in 1997 and helped the Bulldogs to three-consecutive 20-win seasons. He established himself as one of the nation’s best young coaching prospects during a six-year assistant coaching stint. In his three seasons as Barry Collier’s top assistant, Butler compiled a 67-29 (.698) record, won two Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament championships and one MCC regular-season title, made two NCAA tournament appearances and earned one NIT berth. He served as Butler’s primary recruiter.
In total, Matta spent six seasons as a full-time assistant coach at three different universities, helping his squads compile a composite 128-58 (.688) record and make six postseason tournament appearances. He was on the bench in five-consecutive conference tournament championship games, and won four league tournament championship rings. He was in the NCAA tournament five times as an assistant under four different head coaches and in the postseason NIT once.
A high school basketball standout at Hoopeston-East Lynn in Hoopeston, Ill., Matta was a two-year starter for the Butler Bulldogs in three seasons after transferring from Southern Illinois as a sophomore. He led Butler in assists (100) and three-point field goal percentage (.433) in 1987-88 and in free throw percentage in 1988-89 (.872). He served as a team captain on Barry Collier’s first team in 1989-90 and finished his career in sixth place on Butler’s all-time list for free throw percentage (.800). He earned a B. S. degree from Butler in 1990. Matta enjoyed his Butler career high point total of 21 points against XU at the Cincinnati Gardens March 2, 1989.
Thad Michael Matta was born July 11, 1967 in Hoopeston. The 36-year-old coach and his wife, Barbara, have two daughters, Ali and Emily.
Career Record 2000-01 Butler 24-8 (.750 2001-02 Xavier 26-6 (.813) 2002-03 Xavier 26-6 (.813) 2003-04 Xavier 26-11 (.703) Totals 102-31 (.767)
