An emotional Thad Matta met with reporters Thursday, moments after informing
his team that it was banned from postseason play this year.
“I obviously don’t have a lot to say right now,” Matta said. “I will
say this: I knew coming in here that there were some issues and some problems.
And, as I told Andy (Geiger), I’m 100 percent with Ohio State in this
decision.
“I think the shame of it is, for our players, they had nothing to do with
it. They’re being penalized for a crime they did not commit. But, I think that’s
part of life. I think that’s part of how things go. But, Ohio State has my
support in this. It is unfortunate, but it’s something that for our guys might
be hard to understand, because they weren’t involved in it. It’s one of
those things that, as a team, we have to get through.
“The season is definitely not over and as I told the players, the hardest
thing for me personally and my staff, is, quite honestly, we’ve fallen in love
with this team. They have done everything that has been asked of them. They’ve
worked extremely hard. Probably the most coachable basketball team that I’ve
ever been a part of. And to give them this news is tough. But I do think,
knowing our guys, my staff, myself, we will rally and we will continue to
compete with great intensity. And every day we take the court, or every night we
take the court, for a practice or game, we want to produce the best damn
basketball team that Ohio State can have this year, and that’s not going to
change.”
It was a dark day for the entire program - but especially for seniors Tony Stockman, Brandon Fuss-Cheatham and Matt Marinchick. Stockman will never get to
play in an NCAA Tournament.
“It’s difficult, but I think everybody in this room - including myself
and the players - knew something was going to happen,” Matta said. “We just
didn’t know what or when. The hard part is for Tony, Matt and Brandon, because
their chances of playing in postseason play has been stripped.”
Matta says his players weren’t “angry” when told of the news, they were
more disappointed.
“They’re a little bit confused, as 18-22 year-olds might be of, ‘Hey,
we didn’t do anything.’ When I told them I needed to talk to them in the
locker room - which I don’t do very often - they all were kind of like ‘Uh,
oh.’ But I’ll tell you this about those guys: they’re very mature and the
guys that stepped to the forefront I think are leaders. I feel very comfortable
with the leadership on this team,” Matta said.
When Matta was hired, Geiger adamantly claimed that no major sanctions would
be handed down by the NCAA. He said the current players and coaches would not be
affected. However, obviously something changed.
“Honestly, I never heard that,” Matta said. “I knew that things could
go down when we got here. I honestly never heard Andy say that the current team
wouldn’t be punished.”
Although he was disappointed in the sanctions, Matta knows it’s better to
get this out of the way now. Better sooner, than later.
“No question, no question,” Matta said. “I really mean this: this
affects this team, but we will not let this affect the future of Ohio State
basketball. It does not affect us recruiting. To me, it does not affect the
future of this program and getting it out now, it takes away the doubt. The
players that we are bringing in will not be affected by this.
“I kind of go back to the three seniors. Those are the guys that were hit
the hardest today. But, as we met as a staff, we’re going to continue to move
forward. I’m going recruiting tonight. The vision, the mission of this program…
as I told the staff, I’m a very positive person. This is a huge negative, but,
hey, we’ve got to go. I know for me personally and my staff, the greatest two
hours of our day is in the gymnasium teaching the game of basketball. So, I don’t
think it’s going to hold us back.”
Now, the team is focused on doing well in the Big Ten regular season and Big
Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes want to prove they would have been good enough to
make the NCAA Tournament if they were allowed in. The Big Ten Tournament now
becomes their de-facto March Madness.
“Yes, it really does,” Matta said. “And that was brought up in the
locker room. It becomes sort of the battle cry, if you will, that we will still
have the opportunity and we’ll get to play in March. That becomes our
postseason play right there.”
Geiger and OSU president Karen Holbrook hinted that more sanctions could be
forthcoming, after the NCAA completes its investigation.
“You know, honestly, I don’t know,” Matta said. “I don’t think I’m
able to comment on that because of the legality of it all.”
Yes, Geiger and Holbrook might have made that claim just to be safe. Geiger
already got egg on his face once saying that the 2004-05 team would not be
penalized.
But how can Matta assure recruits that the situation has been resolved if
there is still the chance of more sanctions?
“For me personally, I was shown case studies of (sanctioned) programs and
what they’ve done and what they received and I feel extremely confident that
one year ban of postseason play will get that done,” Matta said.
Matta received a one-year extension to his contract because of the sanctions.
He is now locked up through 2012.
“That was initiated (by Geiger),” Matta said. “It was up in the air how
we were going to address that. Personally for me, I’m honored that Ohio State
would do that. It shows me personally the support and I think it shows the
future of Ohio State basketball. And I think that was a tremendous statement by
Andy and Dr. Holbrook.”