Matta Win Total Rates No. 5 All-Time After Six Seasons – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 23, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Thad Matta, starting his third year as the Ohio State head men’s basketball coach, has the fifth-most victories among all NCAA Division I coaches after the first six years of a career, according to NCAA records.
Matta has totaled 148 wins at Butler (24), Xavier (78) and Ohio State (46) in the first six years of his coaching career. He has reached 20 or more wins every season as a head coach, including a 26-win campaign a year ago in Columbus.
In the first two seasons at Ohio State, Matta has a record of 46-18 after putting together a 24-8 season, his first as a head coach, at Butler in 2000-01 and a 78-23 record at Xavier (2002-04).
Among active NCAA Division I coaches, Matta and Mark Few of Gonzaga are the only coaches to produce 20 or more wins in each of his first six seasons as a head coach. Few has done so in all seven with the Bulldogs.
During his tenure, Matta has taken all five eligible teams to NCAA tournament play and has earned coach-of-the-year honors in each conference (Midwestern Collegiate, Atlantic 10 and Big Ten) he has worked.
Ohio State, the defending Big Ten regular-season champion, opens the 2006-07 season Nov. 10-12 in the BCA Classic at Value City Arena.
| First 6 Seasons | Seasons | W | L | Pct. |
| Everett Case, North Carolina St. | 1947-52 | 161 | 39 | .805 |
| Mark Few, Gonzaga | 2000-05 | 159 | 37 | .811 |
| Roy Williams, Kansas | 1989-94 | 159 | 45 | .779 |
| Bruce Stewart, WVa. Wesleyan & Middle Tenn. | 1983-88 | 149 | 52 | .741 |
| Thad Matta, Butler, Xavier & Ohio St. | 2001-06 | 148 | 49 | .751 |
Matta in the NCAA Records Book
Victories to start a career
| Rk | Record | Pct. | |
| After two seasons | 13th | 50-14 | .781 |
| After three seasons | 4th | 76-20 | .792 |
| After four seasons | 5th | 102-31 | .767 |
| After five seasons | 8th | 122-43 | .739 |
| After six seasons | 5th | 148-49 | .751 |
