Former Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann has been named DePaul’s next men’s basketball coach, athletic director DeWayne Peevy announced Thursday.
Holtmann will join the Blue Demons on a six-year deal, a source involved in the discussions said, and there’s a commitment from DePaul for a very competitive staff salary pool.
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DePaul fired coach Tony Stubblefield in January and was the first power-conference school to make a coaching change this year. The Blue Demons ended the year with a 58-57 loss to Villanova on Wednesday in the Big East tournament.
The program has long been stuck at the bottom of the Big East. Since joining the conference in 2005-06, DePaul has only two winning seasons overall (2006-07 and 2018-19) and has only once finished above .500 in conference play (2006-07). Holtmann will be the team’s fifth head coach over that span — and none of his four predecessors have been able to reach the NCAA Tournament.
DePaul reached a new nadir this season, losing its final 20 games and ranking 308th of 362 Division I teams, according to KenPom.
“Chris’ track record as a head coach of high-level programs, demonstrated commitment to excellence on and off the court, and NCAA postseason experience made him the perfect hire for DePaul,” Peevy said in a statement. “Chris unmistakably shares our values and our vision for DePaul men’s basketball, recognizes our commitment to the resources required to compete at a high level, and is eager to return our program to national prominence.”
Our next head coach.
Welcome to DePaul @ChrisHoltmann!
📰 https://t.co/rl3YPv2TJi pic.twitter.com/QCuv3DxQex
— DePaul Basketball (@DePaulHoops) March 14, 2024
Ohio State fired Holtmann in the middle of his seventh season in February. The 52-year-old led the Buckeyes to NCAA Tournaments in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (and would have in 2020), but the team was 30-30 over his final 60 games with a 9-25 Big Ten record.
Holtmann brings with him to DePaul previous Big East experience — and success. Before Ohio State, he coached Butler from 2015 to 2017, taking the Bulldogs to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments and reaching the Sweet 16 in 2017.
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“I am very excited about this opportunity to be the head men’s basketball coach at DePaul,” Holtmann said in a statement. “During this process, I was extremely impressed with the commitment, eagerness and vision of DeWayne Peevy and president (Rob) Manuel to build a successful Big East basketball program. My wife, Lori, and our daughter, Nora, look forward to getting to Chicago and spending time in the DePaul community. We can’t wait to get to work!”
DePaul is not a job for the faint of heart — or for those afraid of a challenge. The program has not qualified for the NCAA Tournament since the 2003-04 season and no coach has left the Blue Demons with a winning record since Dave Leitao’s first run from 2002 to 2005. What comes along with a largely dormant program is what you’d expect: Facilities that lag behind its peers (but are being addressed, with a new practice facility finally in the works) and name, image and likeness fundraising efforts that leave much to be desired.
Holtmann is a huge hire for DePaul, and the school has committed significant resources to him in terms of his salary pool and an NIL fund, hoping that he can jumpstart a new era of DePaul basketball. It will be quite different from both a resource standpoint and the football-first environment Holtmann lived in over the past eight years at Ohio State, but it seems to be worth the risk for a coach who did not stay away from the sidelines for very long.
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(Photo: John Fisher / Getty Images)
