‘We didn’t want this to happen.’ Ohio State coach’s family filled with Kentucky fans.
Imagine you and your family are passionate Kentucky fans. And, now, your first-born son will be coaching against Kentucky.
That’s the ticklish position in which a Central Kentucky family finds itself.
Ohio State Coach Chris Holtmann grew up in Nicholasville. As a player, he grabbed his socks before shooting free throws because that’s how his hero, Kyle Macy, shot them for UK. He remembers where he was and how he felt — “incredibly disappointed” — when Christian Laettner made that shot.
His task on Saturday will be to guide fifth-ranked Ohio State against No. 6 Kentucky and, presumably, be thrilled if one of his Buckeyes players makes such a shot.
This scenario makes his mother uneasy.
“We didn’t want this to happen,” Patty Holtmann said last weekend.
Holtmann, who is known to be consumed with pregame preparation, said he expects to maintain a professional detachment.
“As a coach, you really dive into the details of how to play a really, really good team that’s really well-coached,” he said of preparing to face Kentucky. “That’s where you lose yourself. It’s not in any of the other stuff.”
Patty does not have such a distraction. She fretted when Ohio State nearly played Kentucky in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. A 74-59 loss to Houston in the second round prevented Ohio State from advancing to a Sweet 16 game against UK.
“I was nervous about that,” said Patty, who likes to listen on head phones to the radio broadcast of a Kentucky game while the Ohio State game is on the television.
She mentioned that a longtime UK employee lives down the street and shared her alarm about Saturday’s Holtmann-versus-Kentucky matchup.
“She goes, ‘Oh my gosh, you all aren’t going to (Las Vegas)?’” Patty said. “And I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.’”
The Holtmanns planned to attend the game. Yes, they said, they will root for their son and Ohio State.
Holtmann’s father, John, said he joked with Chris about wearing Ohio State gear in the first half and Kentucky gear in the second.
“He got the joke,” the elder Holtmann said.
The Holtmanns planned to wear Ohio State colors.
A dog named Rupp
Their younger son, John Michael Holtmann, also planned to attend the game. He lives in Jackson, Miss., and is a commercial real estate developer. He, too, will be a Kentucky fan rooting against the Wildcats in this one game.
“It’s special when your brother is coaching against kind of your childhood team,” he said. “You grew up as a Kentucky kid, especially one that loves basketball, idolizing the program.”
The decision to attend the game was not easy, John Michael said.
“It’s right around Christmas,” he said. “I have two young kids. I’m not sure my wife was as thrilled about me going. But when I talked to the family, the response was how could we miss this?”
John Michael once had a chocolate lab he named Rupp. Why name the dog after Adolph Rupp?
“I just think the admiration for the tradition,” John Michael said. “Rupp was a great dog. He would follow me everywhere, to the point if I was on the telephone and pacing, he’d be right by my side.”
John and Patty Holtmann moved to Lexington from Cincinnati in 1973. John was an optician who was recruited to run a company in Central Kentucky.
“We sort of got adopted into the whole Big Blue Nation phase,” he said. “Well, not a phase. It’s a lifestyle.”
There’s a basket still set up next to the driveway. Over the years, it’s gotten a workout. On occasion, former UK player Ronnie Lyons, who lives down the street, would come by and shoot with Chris and John Michael.
“Our neighbors said they always heard a ball out there,” Patty said. “No matter what time of day it was.”
He still has the posters
Chris played for Jessamine County High school. His father recalled his older son playing in Lexington’s Dirt Bowl against former UK players, including Dickey Beal. John Michael played for Lexington Christian Academy.
A wall in Chris Holtmann’s bedroom is still adorned with the UK basketball posters he saw before going to sleep. There’s a drawing depicting the 1991-92 team that lost to Duke and Laettner in the NCAA Tournament East Region finals. There’s a poster of the 1997-98 team that won the national championship.
In his third season as Ohio State coach, Holtmann has led the Buckeyes to a 10-1 start and a No. 5 national ranking.
That lofty status made it all the more surprising when his name was misspelled as “Holtman” early in the telecast of the Buckeyes’ 74-49 victory at North Carolina on Dec. 4. This was early in what became the most lopsided UNC loss in Roy Williams’ tenure as coach.
“My brother texted me a screen shot of that,” Holtmann said. “Leave it to your brother to point that out.”
Holtmann said he laughed off the mistake.
Said John Michael with a chuckle, “How many years does it take to just get a little bit of recognition, and at least get your name spelled correctly?”
Ohio State hired Holtmann as coach in June of 2017. He has a three-year record of 54-25.
Prior to that, he had a three-year record of 70-31 as Butler coach.
Actually, Saturday’s game will not be the first time Holtmann has been on the opposing bench in a Kentucky game. He was an assistant coach at Gardner-Webb when the Runnin’ Bulldogs won 84-68 at Kentucky in the second game of the 2007-08 season.
His parents attended that game.
“I didn’t like the upset,” Patty said. “I felt like, ‘Oh man, I didn’t think it was going to end like this.’”
However, the proud mother did point out that Chris said that he was the assistant coach who did the scouting and on-court preparation for that game.
“One of those memories that’s seared into your mind,” Holtmann called it.
Another long-lasting memory figures to be created Saturday.
Saturday
No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Ohio State
What: CBS Sports Classic
Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
When: 5:15 p.m. EST
TV: CBS
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 8-2, Ohio State 10-1
Series: Kentucky leads 11-9
Last meeting: Ohio State won 74-67 on Dec. 19, 2015, in the CBS Sports Classic at Brooklyn, N.Y.
