Chris Holtmann misses practice with illness, not expected to miss next game

COLUMBUS — Chris Holtmann is taking no chances with illness at Ohio State.

If that means a rare day off from practice for the Buckeyes coach, so be it.

Fresh off the upset of top-ranked Duke earlier in the week, Holtmann was at home on Friday as the Buckeyes prepared for their Big Ten opener on Sunday night at Penn State. Ohio State expects to have its leader back in time for the road trip, but in the meantime assistant Ryan Pedon was sliding into a more prominent role to keep the program rolling into the weekend.

“We anticipate [Holtmann will travel], yes,” Pedon said before the afternoon workout on Friday. “He’s just not feeling well, and this is by choice. He didn’t want to be around the team to expose the team to that today. I think it’s probably in his best interest to lay low for a minute, too.

“From a planning standpoint, no [change]. From an on-court standpoint, that will be our job as coaches to make sure that we have a great practice and get our team prepared for battle.”

The issue is not COVID-related, so Holtmann wasn’t forced to stay away from the Buckeyes and not facing any sort of quarantine time.

But certainly the experience of last year has influenced some of the thinking for Ohio State, and Holtmann staying away at a minimum decreases the risk of spreading anything to his team before an early Big Ten test on the road. The Buckeyes are also better equipped to handle those situations after the challenges of getting through last season and the backup plans that had to be put in place then.

“You’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected, and we’ve got a great staff in place,” Pedon said. “Certainly it’s not going to fall on one person. We work so well together, and I know coach has a lot of confidence in what we’re able to do with the team. We’re going to play our role to the best of our ability. He’s doing better, and we anticipate him being back.”

“Right now, not much [changes] to be honest with you. He’s been in regular contact with our staff. We’re practice-planning as normal, and we’re going to have a great practice today to get ourselves ready to have a great one tomorrow and then leaving for Happy Valley after that.”

Ohio State expects to have Chris Holtmann along for that trip.

But the preparations were continuing without him.