Ryan Pedon will move from the Ohio program after this season.
The five-year-old assistant coach at Chris Holtman’s coaching staff has been hired as the new head coach in Illinois, a source told the Eleven Warriors after an initial report from Columbus Dispatch.
The state of Illinois officially announced the hiring on Friday afternoon.
Join us in welcoming the 20th head coach in Redbird men’s basketball history, Ryan Paden! #REDBIRDhoops
: https://t.co/Aeo5vDcfbQ pic.twitter.com/iAzaJWlB4j
– Redbird Men’s Basketball (@Redbird_MBB) March 4, 2022
“I am extremely excited to join the Redbird family,” Pedon said in a statement. “My family and I are committed to finding the right shape all the time. Simply put, Illinois checks each of our boxes. Great people, strong academics, a highly competitive environment, a proud alumni base and a campus / community that will allow us to recruit at a high level. The tradition of men’s basketball in the state of Illinois is well documented and we will accept this at every level. My family and I are so grateful for this opportunity and look forward to building something very special in Illinois. ”
Holtman recently said that Pedon, a native of Bexley, Ohio and a graduate of Miami, Ohio, has turned down many proposals for a head coach to stay in Ohio, but said it would be difficult to keep him in the state much longer. . Holtman’s guess was correct, as his longtime counterpart in Ohio (2017-22) and Butler (2015-17) is moving elsewhere.
Holtman told the Eleven Warriors he was “so happy” for Pedon and called the opening in Illinois a “great first job.”
The Red Birds were 13-19 last season and 11-15 under 10-year-old coach Dan Mueller before being fired last month. Mueller has been replaced by interim head coach Brian Jones, but Pedon will take the reins after the end of the Ohio state’s post-season series.
Padden has coached the state of Illinois before, serving as an assistant to John Gross, a teammate of Holtman at Taylor College in Illinois from 2013-15.
As an offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes, Pedon helped turn the Ohio attack into the team’s strength this season. According to KenPom, the Buckeyes are number 11 in the country in terms of offensive effectiveness this season.
Under Pedan, Buckeye striker EJ Liddell has become one of the best players in the conference and in the country, performing in all the top ten of the first team in 2020-21 and a candidate for the Big Ten this year.
Pedon also played an important role in building the recruitment class in Ohio in 2022, which is the highest-rated group in Holtman’s tenure with the Buckeyes. The five-player class is number 5 in the country and number 1 in the Big Ten, with four four-star prospects signing with Ohio in the class.