Ohio State signs women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff to new four-year contract

On Wednesday, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees extended the contract of multiple Buckeye coaches. Included in that approval is basketball coach Kevin McGuff. The women’s basketball coach will stay in Scarlet and Gray through the 2025-26 season.

McGuff’s four-year contract includes a $675,000 annual salary and overall annual compensation of $1.05 million. The new contract begins July 1, 2022.

In the 2021-22 season, McGuff’s Buckeyes defied expectations surrounding the program and won the Big Ten Regular Season Co-Championship, which was shared with the Iowa Hawkeyes. That title initially pushed McGuff’s prior agreement out through the 2023-24 season, due to incentives built into his contract. This new deal will override his previous agreement with the niversity.

Through nine seasons with Ohio State, McGuff’s teams won three conference championships and one B1G Tournament title. In the NCAA Tournament, McGuff’s Buckeyes made five appearances, twice going to the Sweet Sixteen, including the 2021-22 season where Ohio State fell to the Big 12 Tournament Champion Texas Longhorns 63-66.

Ohio State’s seen success with the women’s basketball team since the Hamilton, Ohio native took the helm in 2013-14, but the team’s also gone through its fair share of hardships. After the 2020 NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19, the Buckeyes self-reported recruiting violations for improper contact, causing Ohio State to miss any postseason basketball following the 2020-21 regular season.

While the coaches responsible no longer are part of the team, McGuff’s continued leading the Scarlet and Gray.

It was that environment where the Buckeyes lost two starting forwards to transfers heading into the 2021-22 season. Dorka Juhasz moved to perennial contenders of UCONN and Aaliyah Patty transferred to Texas A&M.

McGuff responded with arguably the most impressive coaching season of his career in Columbus, Ohio. He brought in a transfer of his own in guard Taylor Mikesell, formerly of the Maryland Terrapins and Oregon Ducks. Mikesell, along with junior guard Jacy Sheldon, led Ohio State in scoring throughout the season, and were a hard duo to stop.

Also, McGuff coached the Buckeyes through two losses at the point guard position in Madison Greene, who didn’t play a single minute of the season after sustaining a preseason knee injury, and sophomore Kateri Poole in Jan. Ohio State responded, winning 13 of 15 in the 2022 calendar year to place themselves in the conversation for league champions.

Due to a slip-up from the Michigan Wolverines on the final day of the season, the Buckeyes shared the conference title.

Now, with the coach solidified, the return of Taylor Mikesell and the influx of new freshman talent, Ohio State’s expectations will be much higher for the 2022/23 season. It’s now McGuff’s turn to take the new contract, and strengthen roster to push the Buckeyes to a new level.