Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is currently in his second stint as head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team, having been head coach of the Bulldogs for the 2000–01 season. From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

to five

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

regular season championships (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012), four Big Ten tournament titles (

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

), two

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appearances (

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

), and the 2008 NIT Championship. He is the winningest coach in Ohio State history. Before returning to Butler, Matta spent a season (2021–22) as the Associate Athletic Director for

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and the men's basketball team.

Playing career

A basketball standout for the Cornjerkers at Hoopeston-East Lynn High School in Hoopeston, Illinois, Matta was a two-year starter for the

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

Bulldogs in three seasons after transferring from

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of T ...

as a sophomore. He led Butler in assists (100) and three-point field goal percentage (.433) in 1987–88 and in free-throw percentage in 1988–89 (.872). He served as a team captain (one of the Butler tri-captains that year) on Barry Collier's first team in 1989–90 and finished his career in sixth place on Butler's all-time list for free-throw percentage (.800). He earned a B.S. degree from Butler in 1990. Matta enjoyed his Butler career-high point total of 21 points against

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

at the Cincinnati Gardens on March 2, 1989.

Early coaching years

In total, Matta spent six seasons as a full-time assistant coach at three different universities, helping his squads compile a composite 128–58 (.688) record and make six postseason tournament appearances. He was on the bench in five consecutive conference tournament championship games and won four league tournament championship rings. He was in the NCAA tournament five times as an assistant under four different head coaches and in the postseason

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

once. Matta began his coaching career at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified ...

as a graduate assistant under head coach

Tates Locke Taylor "Tates" Locke (February 25, 1937 – May 15, 2024) was an American basketball coach. He was described by Rick Telander in the March 8, 1982, issue of ''Sports Illustrated'' as being "as high-strung, aggressive and gung-ho over college co ...

in 1990–91. Matta served as an academic coordinator and administrative assistant at

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

(1991–94) before moving into the full-time coaching ranks. Matta took his first full-time assistant coaching position under Herb Sendek at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

(Ohio) in 1994–95 and helped Miami to a 23–7 record, a Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and a first-round win in the NCAA tournament. The following year, Matta accepted a coaching position at

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU ...

under Phil Hopkins and helped the Catamounts to a 17–13 record, the school's first winning record in 10 years. Western Carolina captured the Southern Conference tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament as a 16 seed, very nearly upsetting 1-seed Purdue in the round of 64. Matta returned to Miami under new head coach Charlie Coles in 1996–97 and helped the RedHawks to a 21–9 record, the MAC regular season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA tournament. Matta rejoined Butler University's staff in 1997 and helped the Bulldogs to three consecutive 20-win seasons. He established himself as one of the nation's best young coaching prospects during a six-year assistant coaching stint. In his three seasons as Barry Collier's top assistant, Butler compiled a 67–29 (.698) record, won two Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament championships and one MCC regular-season title, made two NCAA tournament appearances and earned one NIT berth. He served as Butler's primary recruiter.

Head coaching

Butler

Matta took over as head coach of

when Barry Collier left after the 1999–2000 season to coach at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Matta was named 2000–01 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year in his first and only season as head coach at Butler, after leading the Bulldogs to a school record 24 wins. He was also named National "Rookie Coach of the Year" by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

Line.com and College Insider.com. Butler was 24–8 under Matta's direction that year with an 11–3 record and an MCC regular season championship, a MCC tournament championship and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Butler won 13 of its last 15 games. Eventual NCAA runner-up Arizona ended the Butler run in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Xavier

At Xavier, Matta led the Musketeers to three consecutive 26-win seasons, back-to-back Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championships in 2002Xavier Musketeers Basketball 2001-02 Schedule - Musketeers Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> and 2003 and two league tournament titles in 2002 and 2004.Xavier Musketeers Basketball 2003-04 Schedule - Musketeers Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> Xavier advanced to three NCAA tournaments, including an

Elite Eight In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...

appearance in 2004 following two second-round trips. Matta's 26 wins for the 2002–03Xavier Musketeers Basketball 2002-03 Schedule - Musketeers Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> season marked the highest win total ever for a second-year Xavier head coach. He also broke the school record for most victories by a Xavier rookie head coach. Xavier's 26–6 record in the 2001–02 campaign set the record. Matta was named 2002

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

Coach of the Year, while leading the Musketeers to the top regular season finish in the league at 14–2 and an Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship. In addition, Matta became the only first-year coach in conference history to ever win both the A–10 regular season and tourney championships.

Ohio State

Matta, a finalist for the 2002–03 Naismith National Coach of the Year Award, was hired as the 13th head coach in Ohio State history on July 7, 2004, after the school had fired previous coach Jim O'Brien. No time was wasted preparing for his first season in Columbus, which culminated in a 65–64 victory over undefeated and top–ranked

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in the regular-season finale at Value City Arena before a packed house and a national television audience. The Buckeyes' final record for the 2004–05 campaign was 20–12, but did not include any postseason play, as the team was ineligible.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2004-05 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> In the 2005–06 season Matta led the Buckeyes to an outright Big Ten Championship for the first time since 1992, finishing one game ahead of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2005-06 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> The Buckeyes' season came to an end during the second round of the NCAA tournament when they lost to Georgetown on March 19, 2006. Their final overall record was 26–6. The Buckeyes were thought to be a year away from competing for the league crown, as they were to add a highly regarded recruiting class, dubbed the "Thad Five", led by center Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

for the 2006–07 season. The Buckeyes did win the Big Ten and Matta led Ohio State all the way to the national championship game, where they lost to defending national champion Florida.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2006-07 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> In the 2007–08 season, Matta's Buckeyes did not make the NCAA tournament. However, they won the 2008 NIT championship, despite playing with four new starters for the second consecutive year.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2007-08 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> In 2009, Ohio State went to the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the first round by Siena.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2008-09 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> In 2010, the Buckeyes won a share of the Big Ten and the 2010 conference tournament title. In the NCAA tournament they beat UC–Santa Barbara in the first round 68–51. The next round they beat Georgia Tech 75–66, but went on to lose to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2009-10 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> In the 2010–11 season, Matta's Buckeyes were 29–2, ranked #1 in all polls (16–2 in conference play), and won the outright Big Ten Championship.Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball 2010-11 Schedule - Buckeyes Home and Away - ESPN
/ref> The Buckeyes beat Penn State on March 13 to win their 2nd consecutive Big Ten tournament title. The Buckeyes were the overall number one seed in the 2011 NCAA tournament and the number one seed in the Eastern bracket, where the Buckeyes won two games in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

before losing to eventual Eastern regional champion

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In the 2011–12 season, Matta led Ohio State to its third straight Big Ten championship, shared with Michigan and Michigan State. Ohio State advanced to the Final Four for the second time in Matta's career, before losing to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in a game the Buckeyes led by nine at halftime. In the 2012–13 season, Ohio State finished second in the Big Ten regular season, one game behind league champion Indiana. The Buckeyes went on to win the Big Ten tournament in Chicago, which was Matta's fourth Big Ten tournament championship. The Buckeyes were a 2 seed in the 2013 NCAA tournament. They lost in the Elite Eight to Wichita State. On March 12, 2015, Matta set a school record for victories, winning his 298th game for OSU after defeating Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament. On June 5, 2017, Matta mutually agreed with Ohio State to step down as its head coach due to health issues that were causing a decline in team performance and recruiting. His final season at Ohio State was the first time in Matta's entire career that he failed to achieve at least 20 wins.

Back to Butler

On April 3, 2022, it was announced that Butler hired Matta as head coach to replace LaVall Jordan.Thad Matta Returns to the Sidelines to Lead Butler Men’s Basketball Program
accessed April 3, 2022

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matta, Thad 1967 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Butler Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Butler Bulldogs men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches People from Vermilion County, Illinois Point guards Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball players Western Carolina Catamounts men's basketball coaches Xavier Musketeers men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen