Thad Matta reminding us that constipation is no laughing matter

Loss to Siena bedamned, Thad Matta has been pretty good to Ohio State. At a football school, he has made the tournament three out his five years, with a second-round exit by the Terrence Dials-led Buckeyes in 2005, and he followed that up by taking the Oden-Conley squad to the title game and, two years ater, dropping a shocker to Siena in what was arguably one of the top-5 exciting (if heartbreaking) finishes in last March's tournament. In 2004, his team was banned from postseason play, and in 2007, the Buckeyes rallied in the postseason to win the NIT. Suffice to say, things have been more good than bad in Columbus since his arrival, and things are looking up: Matta returns every important element of his team this year, and a mega-talented 2010 class - which by itself would probably make an NCAA tourney appearance as high school seniors - is looking to become the second "Thad Five" -in Matta's short time at Ohio State.

When Matta took the original Thad Five to the title game, Ohio State fans considered it emblematic of the program's arrival on the national scene. We had put the days of Jim O'Brien behind us, and before us lay green pastures, five-star recruits, and final four appearances. For the second year in a row, Matta brought in another talented big man in Kosta Koufos, and we hoped that - without a genuine point guard - we could make do. Well, we sorta did. We didn't make the tournament, but damn it, we won the NIT, and that counts for something, doesn't it, Jamar Butler?

``This is what happens when you put an NCAA tournament team in the NIT,'' Butler yelled, surrounded by his teammates after beating Massachusetts 92-85 in the title game Thursday night. ``Write that down and send that to the committee.''

Yeah! Take that, committee!

When Kosta Koufos defected to NBA, some were surprised, others were kinda resigned to it. Koufos had been, to put it kindly, ineffective in most of his games at Ohio State; he was hesitant to play any sort of defense, his shot-selection was iffy at best, and he got mauled against the better big men in the league. Having him back would have been nice, but to say he was anything more than a disappointment, you would probably have to be his own mother. Or a wacky NBA talent scout.

But with the loss of Butler, Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger, and eventually Eric Wallace to DePaul, Matta had another rebuilding effort to undergo in 2008, and he did fairly well in guiding the team to a deep run in the Big Ten tournament and the aforementioned unfortunate first-round exist. But it was in 2008 that Matta's philosophy finally garnered a fair bit of criticism. With another talented NBA-ready big man waiting in the post, Matta's teams still tended to live and die by the three; and suffer from a frustrating inability to defend it:

Ohio State ranked a shocking 214th out of 330 Division 1 schools in 3-Pt Field Goal Defense, and whaddaya know, look how the season ended:

I like my heartbreak with a double order of ONIONS

Even as it happened, I texted my friend and said that at the very least, the season ended appropriately (only in text-speak, of course). But even with the struggles of the last two years (which would be seen as breakout seasons in the latter Jim O'Brien days), the Thad Matta pied piper act is still working, and working good:

G	16		Aaron Craft (Liberty-Benton HS) Findlay, OH		6-1/170/18.3	06/07/2009		Ohio State
PG	17		Lenzelle Smith (Zion-Benton Twnshp HS) Zion, IL		6-3/215	09/25/2008		Ohio State
SG	13		Jordan Sibert (Princeton HS) Cincinnati, OH		6-5/180	09/20/2008		Ohio State
PF	2		DeShaun Thomas (Bishop Luers HS) Fort Wayne, IN		6-6.5/210/29.0	07/06/2008		Ohio State
C	1		Jared Sullinger (Northland HS) Columbus, OH		6-8/265/16.0	05/10/2007		Ohio State

Mine eyes have seen the glory of a genuine point guard

So it seems Ohio State has carved out a bit of a niche in the college basketball world, which is an improvement over the latter Jim O'Brien era and enough reason alone to keep Matta around for a very long time. But are we a powerhouse? I think we recruit like one, undoubtedly. But what keeps us from becoming Kansas and North Carolina? Well, putting aside the fact that those are two of the most storied programs in all of college basketball, I think there are two big roadblocks:

1. Consistent tourney success

2. Retention of potential future NBA guys

The first is easily changeable and still up in the air; if Ohio State makes the sweet sixteen this year and positions itself for an even deeper run the following year, then we may see that first point fade away a little bit. So far, Ohio State makes the tourney, but outside of the Oden-Conley years, it hasn't made a huge splash.

The second point is a little different as it's a bit more abstract. What do I mean by an "potential future NBA guy"? They're the tweeners; the non-lottery picks without truly big names; Tyler Hansbrough is a good example, prior to his tourney performance that vaulted him into the first round of the NBA draft this past June. They're guys with NBA talent that might not be the biggest stars at the next level. Fortunately, this trend may be breaking. While, for whatever reason, BJ Mullens was a touted NBA prospect and let because of it, Turner was a guy who could have moved into the first round with some strong workouts. Instead, he opted to return to play for Ohio State. Perhaps the tide is turning in this area, ever so slightly. If and when it does, I think Ohio State will have arrived as a powerhouse - not just as a team consistently on the national scene as it is now. Of course, this may all go kaput if the NBA-ready guys in 2010 (Jared Sullinger, perhaps DeShaun Tomas) declare early and provide another blow to Ohio State's APR score, but we'll have to wait and see on them for now. Indeed, 2010 may be the year until which we'll have to hold off judgment on Ohio State's status as a basketball program - whether it is truely "elite" or merely "very good" (still nothing to be ashamed of at a football school). For now, I'm just happy with having something worth watching when football ends.