Mike Krzyzewski disapproved of Ohio State firing head coach Chris Holtmann.
The Buckeyes announced Holtmann’s dismissal Wednesday amid a 14-11 start. While Holtmann led the Buckeyes to four NCAA tournament appearances, they missed out on last season’s March Madness at 16-19 and were 4-10 in Big Ten play before his firing.
Discussing the decision on his Basketball & Beyond podcast alongside fellow retired head coach Jay Wright, Coach K panned Ohio State’s impatience.
“After three years at Duke, I’d be fired,” Krzyzewski said, via 247Sports. “Part of building a culture is going through adversity. We were fortunate to be allowed to do that. Our schools were fortunate because we were allowed to build a culture. Our culture is still there at Duke. That’s what you want to keep going.”
Wright blamed a “win now” mindset in college sports where coaches receive no leeway to develop a younger roster.
“It’s almost like everybody is a junior college coach now,” Wright said. “We’ve got to put a team together, and we’ve got to win right away because we might not get a chance late in the year. They might not be patient with us. That’s why I brought up Holtmann; 70% of Ohio State’s points come from freshmen and sophomores. If those guys stay, whoever gets that job next year is going to have a hell of a team. No one is waiting on those young teams anymore. It’s so different.”
Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith claimed a “spark was needed” when firing Holtmann. He got what he wanted over the weekend.
It’d be interesting to hear how Krzyzewski and Wright feel after watching Ohio State upset No. 2 Purdue on Sunday. The Buckeyes had lost nine of their last 11 games under Holtmann before defeating the Boilermakers in Jake Diebler’s first game as interim head coach.