Ohio State gets ideal coach in Chris Holtmann, but not after Holtmann declined initial offer

It took Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith three days to hire the ideal men’s basketball coach. Not fast enough, obviously. Because during that short time, from about 3 p.m. Monday until he sat down in Dayton on Thursday with candidate Chris Holtmann and was able to declare to associates afterward “We got our guy,” Smith’s competence routinely was questioned in public forums. Can you imagine that? You don’t even get three days now to do something as intricate as hiring an employee to whom you might eventually pay $25 million, whether or not he’s a success. MORE: Who will replace Chris Holtmann at Butler? What’s most curious about that is that it took Indiana nine days to hire the ideal coach, from the day Tom Crean was dismissed until Dayton’s Archie Miller agreed to the job. Exactly a week passed between the day John Groce was fired by Illinois and the…

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