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Thad Matta returns to college basketball coaching with Big East job
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Thad Matta is returning to college basketball coaching. Butler announced Sunday that Matta will be the head coach of the Bulldogs.
“Butler is a special place, one that Barb, Ali, Emily and I each chose as our school,” Matta said in a school release. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to return to Butler and lead our men’s basketball program. There is a solid foundation in place and I’m confident that Butler will consistently be among the top programs in the BIG EAST. I can’t wait to attack the work we have in front of us and to be back on the sidelines at Hinkle Fieldhouse.”
From 2004-to-2017, Matta was the head coach at Ohio State. He posted a 337-123 record making him the winningest coach in program history. Matta led the Buckeyes to 2 Final Four appearances including the 2007 National Championship game, 9 trips to the NCAA Tournament, 5 trips to the Sweet 16, 5 Big Ten regular-season championships, 4 B1G Tournament titles, and the 2008 NIT championship. He stepped down in 2017 due to health issues and the program’s decline. Matta was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
“The success that Thad has achieved at every one of his programs speaks for itself,” Butler Vice President/Director of Athletics Barry Collier said in the school announcement. “He is a championship-caliber coach and recruiter who brings valuable experience and contagious energy to Butler. I have seen that personally in Thad as a player, assistant coach and head coach. The Matta Family – Thad, Barb, Ali and Emily – has a deep appreciation for Butler and I know they join all of the Butler community in how excited we are for what’s to come.”
This will be Matta’s second stint as Butler’s head coach. He led the Bulldogs to a 24-8 record and NCAA Tournament Round of 32 appearance in 2000-01. He was also an assistant at Butler, his alma mater, from 1991-94 and 1997-2000. Matta was Xavier’s head coach from 2001-04, posting a 78-23 record with 3 NCAA Tournament appearances, capped by a trip to the Elite 8.
Matta, 54, had been an associate athletic director at Indiana since 2021.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.