McCurdy: Holtmann brings back development, plus hope, to Ohio State basketball

COLUMBUS - One of the biggest criticisms lodged against former Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta was a lack of player development.

Funny thing is that it used to happen — a lot — under his watch.

Michael Conley Jr. played himself into an NBA lottery pick. Jon Diebler became a record-setting 3-point shooter. Evan Turner evolved into a National Player of the Year.

Guys getting better under Matta was a hallmark of his first eight to 10 years on the job. And then it stopped abruptly. Lenzelle Smith Jr. was the last player to get markedly better, and he last played in 2014.

Everyone since that season either were what they were when they first walked onto campus or they regressed.

Thus, the downturn of the program over the previous two seasons.

If one year is any indication, it looks like new coach Chris Holtmann brought some of that magic Matta showed in the first two-thirds of his tenure at Ohio State.

Guys got better. By a lot.

Keita Bates-Diop was first team All-Promising Talent before emerging as an All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year. Potential turned into production as the 6-7 forward went from a college basketball afterthought to a possible NBA first round pick.

Would Kam Williams have hit all those shots he made in the two NCAA Tournament games at any other point in his career? Before his senior year, his now 1,057 career points were among the least impactful of any Buckeye in history.

C.J. Jackson came to Ohio State as a junior college transfer who at times looked ill-suited as a starting point guard last season. This year he became a guy who averaged 12.6 points and wasn't afraid of big moments.

Andre Wesson went from bit player to valuable defender. Younger brother Kaleb started the season on the bench and finished as a member of the Big Ten's All-Freshmen Team.

Put it all together with the expected effort of senior forward Jae'Sean Tate and the surprising productivity of grad transfer guard Andrew Dakich, and that's why the Buckeyes didn't finish 11th in the league as expected, but instead as Big Ten runners-up with an NCAA Tournament berth.

Holtmann's first crew in Columbus got better — individually and collectively.

A near 30-point blowout in November turned into a five-point lead with six minutes to play four months later against that same Gonzaga team.

The last-minute meltdown against Butler and the second-half collapse against Clemson — more November lowlights — never happened again to a team not named Penn State.

The Buckeyes progressed from Game 1 to Game 34 without a doubt.

Ohio State will miss Tate, Williams, Dakich and of course Bates-Diop if he declares for the draft as expected. But Jackson and the Wessons are a good core to build around.

Musa Jallow, a freshman who should have been a senior in high school, looks like a guy who is ready to take the next step in his college career. Kyle Young will likely be more comfortable as a sophomore than he showed as a freshman. Micah Potter is a player who can give good minutes in the post.

Add in a top 20 recruiting class of guards Luther Muhammad of New Jersey and Duane Washington of California, plus forwards Jaedon LeDee of Texas and Justin Ahrens of nearby Versailles and there is a lot of hope surrounding the program.

And that's a stark contrast to the way folks were feeling a year ago at this time.

Rob McCurdy covers Ohio State men's basketball for USA Today Network-Ohio and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com, work 740-375-5158, cell 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.