What do you guys think of Chris Holtmann?
Current Job Background:
- Currently in his 3rd season at Gardner Webb
- The year before he took the GWU job, GWU went 5-21 against D1 competition, and 5-13 in conference, ranking #331 in KenPom
- That 2010 GWU team started 3 seniors
- In Holtmann's first year, GWU improved to 9-21, KenPom #270
- Now, in Holtmann's third year, GWU is 5-5 against a pretty tough non-con schedule, and is ranked #145 in KenPom (preseason #240)
- According to KenPom, GWU is projected to go 20-10 (12-4) and win the Big South
- This year's GWU team starts 4 non-seniors
- This year's GWU team is ranked 50th nationally in defensive efficiency
Career Path:
- Was an NAIA All-American at Taylor in the mid 90s, as a teammate of John Groce
- Became Taylor's top assistant and recruiting coordinator...won b2b conference titles
- Served as an assistant at GWU for 5 years...recruited a conference Freshman of the Year, a conference Defensive Player of the Year, and a conference Player of the Year
- Was the first hire made by John Groce upon accepting the position of head coach at Ohio University
- Spent 2 years as the lead assistant at Ohio, where he won a MAC title, and upset #3 seed Georgetown in the NCAAT
- Ohio bio
- GWU bio
- Tempo Free History for Gardner Webb (note his defense this year)
I could keep going, but I think that's a decent start. In short: he's young (40 years old), and is consistently described as enthusiastic, energetic, etc. He's proven to be an awesome recruiter, in a number of different places. Has worked very closely with Groce. Has experience in the southeast, specifically North Carolina. Inherited one of the worst teams in the entire country, and has them in position to make the tournament in Year 3. If they live up to KenPom expectations this year, I would not expect him to be at GWU for very long.
ETA: Wanted to add one more thing. I realize that comparing potential hires to [Redacted] is dumb (b/c nearly everyone would look good), but still, this is incredible. All ranks are from KenPom (duh):
In the spring of 2010...
#58 Wake Forest hired Jeff [Redacted]
#331 Gardner Webb hired Chris Holtmann
2.5 years later...
Wake Forest is ranked #208
Gardner Webb is ranked #145