Former Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta receives a commemorative basketball in honor of his 502 career wins. Ohio State beat Butler 82-73 Oct. 25th. Credit: Graham Hovis | Freelance Photographer.
Thad Matta spent 18 seasons as the head coach of Ohio State and Butler’s men’s basketball programs, setting records and reaching career milestones.?
As the two teams faced off in an exhibition game in the Schottenstein Center Sunday, Matta was honored in the building where he became Ohio State’s winningest men’s basketball head coach. Matta led the Buckeyes to five Big Ten regular-season championships and led two teams to the Final Four during his tenure at Ohio State from 2004-2017.
During halftime of Ohio State’s 82-73 exhibition win over Butler, at which Matta was the head coach from 2000-2001 and 2022-2026, he led the crowd in an O-H chant before reflecting on the relationships he built with his players during his tenure in Columbus.
Matta won 502 career games throughout his career, including 337 during his tenure at Ohio State. He spoke of his career to the Schottenstein Center crowd while some of his former Buckeyes players including Aaron Craft, Greg Oden and William Buford stood on the floor in support.??
“I’m humbled to say, 502 wins, I never scored a point. I never got a rebound. It was these guys right here behind me that did all that,” Matta said while pointing to his former Ohio State players.
In an emotional moment, Matta told the crowd how former Ohio State player JJ Sullinger donated a kidney to his former teammate and current Ohio State recruiting coordinator, Terence Dials.?
Matta pointed to the gesture as an example of the lasting bonds basketball can create.
“[It] may be the greatest thing I have ever seen in my coaching career,” Matta said.
He highlighted his time at Ohio State as creating some of the best moments of his life.
“I am the luckiest human being in the world in terms of my coaching career, starting at my alma mater, going to Xavier, coming here for 13 of the greatest years of my life [and] finishing at Butler University,” Matta said.
After Ohio State’s exhibition victory, in which forward Amare Bynum scored a team-high 23 points for the Buckeyes, head coach Jake Diebler discussed Matta’s influence on the program.?
Diebler said he connected with Matta to hear his perspective on the team after the game.
“I’d be foolish not to bend the ear of a Hall of Fame coach who’s been in this seat,” Diebler said. “There’s not a lot of people who have.”
Diebler said talking with Matta about the current state of Ohio State’s team gave him more confidence, as some of the improvements the former coach said were needed were issues Diebler identified himself.
“There were some things he really liked and some things that he identified pretty quickly that we’ve got to continue to get better at,” Diebler said, “The good thing is, I was thinking about those same things. So that’s a good sign, I think.”
