Ohio State assistant Jack Owens joining Chris Holtmann at DePaul
COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive assistant Jack Owens is joining former Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann at DePaul. Holtmann confirmed the move during his introductory press conference Monday.
“I have a staff member here, Jack Owens, and we are hard at work right now,” Holtmann said. “We are putting together the team, staff and program. We are really hitting the ground running. We want this program to be something that all of you who care about this university and this place take great pride in.”
Holtmann was hired to resurrect the Blue Demons last week, a month after he was fired in his seventh season at Ohio State. Ahead of Holtmann’s sixth season in Columbus, he brought aboard Owens, who previously served as the Miami (Ohio) head coach for five years.
Owens directed the Buckeyes’ defense, which jumped from 106th to 60th in adjusted efficiency from last year to this year, according to KenPom. This year, though, he was joined by longtime NBA assistant Brandon Bailey as the NCAA allowed teams to hire two more assistants starting last offseason. Bailey also worked primarily with the Ohio State defense this season.
In addition to his time spent on defense, Owens helped develop the Ohio State bigs the last two years, namely Felix Okpara, who has turned into one of the best shot blockers in the Big Ten. Starting all but one game this season, Okpara also averaged more points (5.9 vs. 4.0 per game), rebounds (6.4 vs. 3.6 per game) and blocks (2.3 vs. 1.3 per game) than he did as a freshman the year prior.
Owens posted a 70-83 overall record at Miami (Ohio). He did guide the RedHawks to the CBI in 2018, which was the program’s first postseason appearance since 2011. In 2020-21, Owens squad recorded the first winning season at Miami (Ohio) since 2009. The RedHawks were 12-11 overall, including 9-8 in the MAC, that year.
Before his head coaching stint, he was on Purdue’s staff for nine years, the last six of which he was the associate head coach to Matt Painter.
Jake Diebler replaced Holtmann on Feb. 14 as interim head coach and has since led the Buckeyes to a 6-2 record, ultimately earning a promotion Sunday to full-time head coach.
Diebler will be tasked with forming his own staff. Now there’s guaranteed to be at least one change on the bench as Owens is headed to DePaul to link up with Holtmann again.
