Matta Repeats as Big Ten Coach of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State returned just one starter and four letterwinners from its 2006 Big Ten title team but has put together a record-breaking campaign in 2007 with a school-record tying 27 victories, including a 15-1 record in league play. After consecutive outright league titles, the Big Ten coaches and media selected Thad Matta as the league’s coach of the year in 2006-07, his second in as many seasons.
Matta now has four coach-of-the-year honors to his credit in three NCAA Division I conferences. He also has five league titles in his seven years as a head coach. Ohio State coaches have won the award seven times. Matta joins Randy Ayers as back-to-back honorees. Ayers did so in 1990 and 1991. Matta’s three-year record of 73-21 (.777) gives him the most wins of the 12 previous Ohio State head coaches in program history over the first three years of their tenures. His three-year winning percentage is second only to legendary mentor Fred Taylor’s .808 mean over his first three seasons (63-15 from 1959-62).
Big Ten coaches and media voted several Buckeyes to the all-league teams in 2006-07. The coaches chose freshman Greg Oden as the conference Freshman of the Year and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. He landed a spot on the First Team All-Big Ten and All-Defensive teams. Classmate Daequan Cook was voted the Sixth Man of the Year. Another OSU rookie, Mike Conley Jr., joined Oden on the All-Freshman Team as well as earning a spot on the Second Team All-Big Ten squad. Junior Jamar Butler and senior Ron Lewis were honorable mention All-Big Ten selections as well.
The league media picked Oden and Conley on the first team with Butler, Cook and Lewis earning spots on the honorable mention squad. Oden was the media selection for Freshman of the Year. He also was the Ohio State’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Oden led the Buckeyes in scoring (15.3 ppg.), rebounding (9.3 rpg.), field goal percentage (.614/132-215) and blocks (80) in just 23 of Ohio State’s 30 games this season. His blocks total is an Ohio State freshman record and is already among the Top 10 all time for career blocks (No. 9).
Conley topped the league charts in assists (191), steals (69) and assist-to-turnover ratio (+3.03). In addition, he knocked down 53 percent of his field goals to rate No. 5 among all Big Ten Conference players. His assist total set the single-season record at Ohio State and he set the freshman record for steals in a season during his rookie campaign.
Cook came off the bench to average 21.3 minutes per game and is tied for the No. 2 spot in scoring among his Ohio State teammates (11.3 ppg.). He set the Buckeye freshman record for 3-pointers made (48) and his long-range shooting percentage (.440) is the second best in OSU history, the freshman record and No. 4 in the Big Ten this season. He led the Buckeyes with six games of 20 or more points on the year.
Lewis tied for the No. 2 spot in scoring with Cook at 11.3 ppg. He was one of four Buckeyes to knock down 47 or more 3-pointers on the year while hitting 74 percent of his foul shots. He scored the second most points (340). He also was third in assists (41) and steals (25) this season.
Butler played the most minutes to date for the Buckeyes with an average of 31 a game. He also led his teammates with 61 made 3-pointers moving him into the Top 10 for career makes from long range in OSU history. His 114 assists were second on the squad, which moved him to the No. 9 spot for career helpers at Ohio State with 332. His 84 percent foul shooting average also led the Buckeyes this year.
A season ago, senior center Terence Dials earned the 2006 Big Ten’s Player of the Year award and earned First Team All-Big Ten accolades. With Oden earning first team honors this season, Ohio State has repeat first teamers in the middle for the first time since 1970 (Dave Sorenson) and 1971 (Luke Witte). Jerry Lucas was a first team center in each of his three seasons from 1960-62. Oden is Ohio State’s fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Year joining Jim Jackson (1990), Greg Simpson (1993) and Michael Redd (1998). He is the Buckeyes’ second Defensive Player of the Year and third award winner. Ken Johnson won the honor in 2000 and 2001. Oden’s high school teammate at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Conley, is the first Ohio State point guard to earn first team honors since Scoonie Penn was a back-to-back selection in 1999 and 2000.
Matta guided the Buckeyes to the outright 2006 and 2007 Big Ten Conference regular-season titles, clinching the latter with a 49-48 home victory over No. 1 Wisconsin Feb. 25 at Value City Arena. The 2007 championship gives Matta five total regular-season league titles in three Division I conferences. Matta won both the regular-season and conference tournament titles in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 2001 while coaching his lone season at Butler, his alma mater. He then won both the regular-season and tournament Atlantic 10 titles in his first year at Xavier in 2002. The Musketeers won the regular-season title again in 2003 and the tournament championship in 2004. Matta was the coach of the year in both the MCC (2001) and A-10 (2002). He was tabbed the Big Ten’s coach of the year in 2006 and again in 2007.
Thad Matta Coaching Resumé
| Year | School | League Title |
P’season Title |
Coach of Yr. |
Conf. |
| 2001 | Butler | X | X | X | MCC |
| 2002 | Xavier | X | X | X | A-10 |
| 2003 | Xavier | X | — | — | A-10 |
| 2004 | Xavier | — | X | — | A-10 |
| 2005 | Ohio St. | — | — | — | Big Ten |
| 2006 | Ohio St. | X | — | X | Big Ten |
| 2007 | Ohio St. | X | X | Big Ten |
Wisconsin’s Tucker Named Big Ten Player of the Year By Coaches and Media
Ohio State’s Thad Matta claims Coach of the Year accolades; Buckeyes’ Greg Oden Nabs Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year laurels, while teammate Daequan Cook earns Sixth Man of the Year honor
Park Ridge, Ill. – Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker captured the conference’s highest honor as he was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in voting by both the coaches and the media. He is the second Badger in the last four years to earn the award as Devin Harris claimed Wisconsin’s first Player of the Year laurel in 2004. In Big Ten games only, Tucker ranked second in the conference in scoring (19.7 ppg) and tied for eighth in rebounding (6.1 rpg). The senior forward led UW to a school-record 13 victories in the Big Ten, while also tallying a 17-game win streak earlier in the season, the longest in school history. This year, Tucker became the second Badger and the 23rd Big Ten standout to reach 2,000 career points. He enters this week’s Big Ten Tournament with 2,125 points and is close to breaking UW’s all-time scoring record held by Michael Finley (2,147 points from 1992-95).
Ohio State’s Thad Matta was tabbed the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the media for the second consecutive year, while also picking up coaching accolades from his peers. In his third season in Columbus, Matta guided the Buckeyes to their second consecutive outright Big Ten title for the first time since OSU won three in a row from 1960-62. The Buckeyes have also tied a school record for wins with an overall mark of 27-3.
In other individual accolades, Ohio State’s Greg Oden was named Freshman of the Year by the coaches and media, joining former Buckeyes Michael Redd, Greg Simpson and Jim Jackson, who were honored in 1998, 1993 and 1990, respectively. Oden led the conference in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and blocked shots (3.44 bpg) in Big Ten games only, while ranking seventh in the Big Ten with 15.1 points per game. The 7-1 center was joined by four other first-year standouts on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. The five-man squad included Iowa’s Tyler Smith, Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan, Northwestern’s Kevin Coble and Ohio State’s Mike Conley Jr.
Oden also became the first freshman in Big Ten history to claim Defensive Player of the Year laurels and the first Buckeye since Ken Johnson won back-to-back honors in 2000 and 2001. He was joined by Illinois’ Chester Frazier, Michigan State’s Travis Walton, Purdue’s Chris Kramer and Wisconsin’s Michael Flowers on the conference’s All-Defensive Team.
Ohio State’s Daequan Cook, who recorded only one start in 30 games this season, is the conference’s second recipient of the Sixth Man of the Year award. The freshman guard provided a spark off the bench for the Buckeyes this season, averaging 11.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in all games.
A total of seven of the 15 selections on the 2007 All-Big Ten teams were underclassmen and have a chance to return to their teams next season. Both All-Big Ten first-team squads included Tucker, Iowa’s Adam Haluska, Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel and Ohio State’s Oden. Purdue senior Carl Landry was honored by the coaches, while the media named Ohio State’s Conley to the top squad. UW’S Tucker earned first-team laurels for the second-consecutive year.
The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for men’s basketball are Illinois’ Trent Meacham, Indiana’s Errek Suhr, Iowa’s Haluska, Michigan’s Brent Petway, Michigan State’s Neitzel, Minnesota’s Jamal Abu-Shamala, Northwestern’s Tim Doyle, Ohio State’s Oden, Penn State’s David Jackson, Purdue’s Chris Hartley and Wisconsin’s Tucker. These 11 student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
The complete list of the All-Big Ten teams and awards follows.
2006-07 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team
As selected by Big Ten coaches
(players names in ALL CAPS have 2007-08 eligibility)
| FIRST TEAM Adam Haluska, Iowa DREW NEITZEL, Michigan State GREG ODEN, Ohio State Carl Landry, Purdue Alando Tucker, Wisconsin* SECOND TEAM THIRD TEAM |
HONORABLE MENTION Rich McBride, Illinois LAWRENCE MCKENZIE, Minnesota Tim Doyle, Northwestern JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State Ron Lewis, Ohio State JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State BRIAN BUTCH, Wisconsin ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM |
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alando Tucker, Wisconsin DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: COACH OF THE YEAR: *Denotes unanimous selection |
As selected by Big Ten media
(players names in ALL CAPS have 2007-08 eligibility)
| FIRST TEAM Adam Haluska, Iowa DREW NEITZEL, Michigan State MIKE CONLEY JR, Ohio State GREG ODEN, Ohio State* Alando Tucker, Wisconsin* SECOND TEAM |
THIRD TEAM Warren Carter, Illinois SHAUN PRUITT, Illinois Roderick Wilmont, Indiana TYLER SMITH, Iowa Dion Harris, Michigan HONORABLE MENTION |
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alando Tucker, Wisconsin FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: COACH OF THE YEAR: *Denotes unanimous selection |
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Trent Meacham, Illinois; Errek Suhr, Indiana; Adam Haluska, Iowa; Brent Petway, Michigan; Drew Neitzel, Michigan State; Jamal Abu-Shamala, Minnesota; Tim Doyle, Northwestern; Greg Oden, Ohio State; David Jackson, Penn State; Chris Hartley, Purdue; Alando Tucker, Wisconsin.
