Greg McDermott Reportedly Meets with Ohio State over Coaching Vacancy

Ohio State has reportedly offered its vacant head coaching position to Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, per Jeff Goodman of ESPN.

However, Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch noted McDermott didn't accompany Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith back to Columbus.

Smith told Jardy that he has a list of candidates and is not done with his search.

Goodman reported an initial meeting with Ohio State on Wednesday to discuss the opening after Thad Matta's departure.

McDermott, 52, has spent the last seven seasons at Creighton. The Bluejays have gone to four NCAA tournaments in that span, reaching the second round on three occasions.

Ohio State is conducting an unorthodox June coaching search after parting ways with Matta this week after 13 seasons. The Buckeyes went to two Finals Fours under Matta and one Elite Eight but had fallen off in recent seasons. They failed to make the NCAA tournament each of the last two years, a first under Matta.

"We weren't winning the battles in recruiting that I thought we might have a chance to win, as he did," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said, per Mitch Stacy of the Associated Press (h/t ABC News). "We started talking about that on Friday [and] the flow of the conversation took me to the reality."

Given that McDermott is actually three years older than Matta, his hiring would be a bit of an odd choice. McDermott previously struggled to bring Iowa State to national prominence in his first go-around with a Power Five team and has never made it past the second round in March.

While the resources afforded to him at Ohio State would give him a better chance, McDermott seems like he should be more of a fall-back option than first choice. Gary Parrish of CBS Sports reported the Buckeyes have targeted Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, who makes a lot more sense in a multitude of ways.

Still, McDermott's willingness to meet with Ohio State brass says a lot about his interest in upgrading from a mid-major.