Thad Matta is a college basketball coach. Matta was a two-year starter for the Butler University Bulldogs in three seasons after transferring from Southern Illinois University as a sophomore.
He led Butler in assists (1000) 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). From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the Ohio State Buckeyes to five Big Ten Conference regular season championships, four Big Ten Tournament titles (2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013), two Final Four appearances (2007 and 2012), and the 2008 NIT Championship. As of 2021, he is the winningest coach in Ohio State history and set many other records there.
On June 5, 2017, Matta mutually agreed with Ohio State to step down as their head coach due to his long time health issues that were causing a decline in team performance and recruiting. His final season at Ohio State was the only in Matta's entire career that he failed to achieve at least 20 wins.
