Matta will assist the Hoosiers staff led by new head coach Mike Woodson.
According to a report from Gregg Doyel of theIndianapolis Star, Indiana is set to hire former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta as its new associate athletic director for men’s basketball administration.
The 53-year-old Matta was the Buckeyes’ head coach from 2004-17 and led the team to five Big Ten regular-season championships, four conference tournament titles and two Final Four appearances, including a trip to the 2007 national championship. He compiled a 337-123 record and is the winningest coach in the history of the Ohio State men’s basketball program.
Matta has been linked to several head-coaching jobs since he and the Buckeyes mutually agreed to part ways following the 2016-17 season, as he was dealing with continued complications from back surgery that led to a decline in team performance and recruiting. However, none of those opportunities came to fruition.
That said, the news of Matta’s hiring comes on the same day the Hoosiers are reportedly set to hire longtime NBA coach and former Indiana player Mike Woodson as their new head coach, a role for which Matta was previously rumored to be a candidate. His role with the Hoosiers will be completely off the court and he will not count as one of the three full-fledged assistants Woodson must hire.
Matta is quite familiar with the state of Indiana, as he played at Butler from 1987-90 and had two stints as an assistant coach from 1991-94 and 1997-2000. He was also the head coach for one season and led the Bulldogs to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular-season and conference tournament titles in 2001, which included a then-school record 24 wins and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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