In his first meeting with the media since a weekend that could only be described as disastrous, Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta put on his holiday face Tuesday and vowed that hope for a special season is not lost on his Buckeyes.

However, before looking past OSU’s 76-48 loss to West Virginia on Saturday and looking ahead to the Big Ten opener with Iowa at Value City Arena on Wednesday afternoon (4 p.m. Eastern, Big Ten Network), Matta has to deal with the unpleasantries, namely the furor surrounding the sudden departure of freshman Anthony Crater.

Moments after the Buckeyes (9-1) suffered their first defeat of the season – a loss that would knock them from No. 15 to 24 in The Associated Press poll – Crater’s mother, Lisa Jimerson, called Matta on his cell phone and informed him that her son was leaving the program.

What’s worse is that Carlos Fordham – a family friend, mentor and former coach of Crater’s at the AAU level – alleged via conversations with this website and other news outlets that Matta welched on a promise to make Crater his starting point guard, brought in JUCO transfer Jeremie Simmons underhandedly and misled the family on his style of play.

Fordham even went so far as to tell The Columbus Dispatch that Matta was “a liar.”

“I’ve been called worse as a coach,” Matta said with a forced smile Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate, and you know the way that we try to do things in this program, this program is bigger than all of us because it represents Ohio State. And I think the one thing that we’ve always tried to do is do things the right way, treat kids the right way, and I think we’ve done that. It’s funny to hear a couple former players call and say, ‘Something else must have been going on there’ type of deal.

“But honestly you move on. My mission is, and I’ve said this, we don’t coach one guy. We coach 15. And I think the biggest thing about this program is it’s about the team. When it becomes – and I’m not saying this was his case – but when it becomes about the individual, that’s when you get yourself in some trouble. I think in coaching today at the college level what happens is people see guys come through here who aren’t here that long and they’re somewhere else, and they think automatically that’s going to happen to me.”

Matta continued, “I think that’s part of the problem in society today: We look for a quick fix. It’s got to be more about the process, and, No. 1, an education, and coming in every day and going to work. That’s kind of what we pride our program on. As Anthony said to me, ‘Hey, I like it here, I like Ohio State, I like the way I’m being treated. I just want to play more.’ When a kid wants that, then they go on.

“If he wants to play somewhere else, great. We’ve had other guys leave here that said the exact same thing, ‘Coach, I just want to play more.’ Therefore, they move on. This team is sitting in a heck of a position right now and I think that we’ve been able to achieve a lot before the New Year.”

The 6-1 Crater was a key reserve for the Buckeyes, coming off the bench in all 10 games and averaging 13.1 minutes per contest. He backed up Simmons, a 6-2 junior who has averaged about 26 minutes per game to this point, and scored 12 points and totaled 19 assists in that role. Against WVU, Crater failed to score in 12 minutes and had one foul, one assist and one turnover. That apparently was the final straw for the youngster or at least for his mother.

Matta certainly has endured other defections in his five years at Ohio State. Neither of the players he signed in his first recruiting class, Sylvester Mayes and Brayden Bell, lasted very long in Columbus. Eric Wallace transferred after barely playing last season and new walk-on J.J. Grycko just left without any notice to the coaching staff a couple weeks ago after taking fall quarter final exams. In fact, people close to former players Daequan Cook and Kosta Koufos made sure to knock Matta’s alleged inability to use them properly following their one season at Ohio State and early entrance into the NBA.

Crater was once a top-25 recruit nationally while at Flint (Mich.) Southwestern Academy but his stock plummeted after committing to OSU in November 2006 and his grades slipped as well. He transferred to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H., for his senior season and arrived with classmates B.J. Mullens, William Buford, Walter Offutt – and transfers Simmons and Nikola Kecman – this June.

The OSU coaching staff, which included associate head coach John Groce at the time, still believed Crater had potential to impact the program when he signed a letter-of-intent with the school on Nov. 15, 2007.

“Anthony is a true point guard,” Matta said on signing day. “He possesses great speed, he’s a tremendous passer and is extremely athletic.”

Matta, though, was steadfast in his claim that he would not promise a starting position to a recruit and did not to Crater.

“My thing,” he said, “and I know how I would have answered the question … if I promise a kid a starting position, you know what I’m going to do the next year when I go out and recruit? I’m going to promise the next kid.

“What we tell kids when we recruit is if anybody promises you anything you should take that school off your list because this is life. There are no promises in life. What we promise kids is you’re going to have an opportunity to get a great education and play college basketball. I think I’ve used the greatest line ever when people ask me, ‘Coach, am I going to be a starter?’ I say, ‘I didn’t tell Greg Oden he was going to be a starter,’ and if there was ever a guy I was going to tell he was going to be a starter it would have been Greg Oden.

“The good thing about it is Anthony and I have talked about it and he says, ‘Coach, you didn’t promise me anything.’ ”

Matta also addressed the idea that he signed Simmons, the NJCAA Division II player of the year, in the spring to relegate Crater to backup status.

“The thing was we felt like we needed outside shooting,” said the coach. “We felt Jeremie could shoot the ball. I wasn’t completely sold at the time where we were going to play Jeremie but we needed more experience back there.”

[BREAK]

Matta said he felt Crater was making strides but had pause playing him extended minutes at times – the West Virginia game being the best example – when the Buckeyes were in search of scoring. In time, Crater could have seized more and more court time, Matta said.

“I think with the Anthony situation it’s just unfortunate,” he said. “We gave it a run. It didn’t work for him, and quite honestly I hope he does well wherever he decides to go. You never want to lose kids, but by the same token we had him for six months and thought he was coming around. Patience, impatience, sometimes that gets the best of us, and I think that was the case in this situation.”

As for the Buckeyes not playing as umtempo as Matta would like and Crater envisioned, Matta said, “We just haven’t put the ball in the basket, to be honest. I think you’ve got to look at personnel a lot of times and say, ‘Are we capable of doing that?’ ”

Matta was careful not to criticize Crater or those close to him while making his points. Fordham, meanwhile, was informed that Matta commented on the matter and told Bucknuts.com he now regrets his accusatory tone and wishes no ill will on the people or the place that Crater left behind.

“I’d like to apologize,” he said. “To me, this is a serious issue because it involves a kid’s future and I was trying to speak for that kid and his mom and tell one side of the story. But I’m not trying to tarnish the Ohio State program in any way.

“Anthony’s mom thought he’d be the starting point guard – and that was me, too, all of us in his camp. When it didn’t roll out that there was an emotional reaction, and that’s when regrettable things are said. I was as shocked as anyone when it happened. I was confused and felt bad for everyone involved. But I don’t want to trash Thad Matta or anyone on this.

“I’m going to call Coach and actually sit down with him and iron things out. This is nothing against Thad. He’s a great coach and he has a great program. He’s a great friend and he’s always going to be friend.”

Fordham added that he was not happy with how everything played out.

“This has been lingering for a month, so this is a fire I’ve been trying to put out for a while,” he said. “His mom is upset, people back home want to know what’s going on and why Anthony is not playing more so they are going to point the finger at, guess who? The coach.

“I’m telling the kid, ‘Hang in there. Your time is going to come.’ I didn’t want this to happen. But this is based on Anthony and his mother’s decision. If it was up to me I would have said, ‘Go and talk to Thad and let’s work this out.’

“I wish I could rewind time. I told her not to call after a loss like that. I was a coach for 12 years and I know that’s not a good time for something like that.”

Crater, who sometimes asnwers to the childhood nickname “Noopy,” has not spoken with any reporters since he left and moved back in with his family in Akron. He has a younger brother, Treyvon, who is a very promising freshman at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. He also has a sister, Kyla.

“He’s bummed out,” Fordham said. “He’s away from all his friends on the team. He’s hurt. I’m hurt. I wish we could forget all this and he could go back.”

That doesn’t look like a realistic option at this point, however. In fact, Fordham is fielding calls from coaches at several schools and said Crater has to pick one before the next academic term begins at the school of his choice to be eligible in January 2010. That means he could decide on a new college within days.

Fordham said Baylor, Providence and Rutgers have been showing a lot of interest and he’s also heard from schools such as Kansas, USC and Texas in the last 48 hours. Crater has scheduled visits to a couple schools and is favoring three at the moment: Baylor, South Florida and Tennessee.

While Crater attempts to make the best of his decision the Buckeyes are trying to do the same.

“It kind of hit us by shock,” junior point guard P.J. Hill said. “We didn’t know it was coming. Now we’ve just got to move on. We’re hoping for the best with his decision and we want the best for him and I know he wants the best for us. But everybody in the end is going to do what’s best for their personal self. We’ve got to move on. We can’t really think about it too much.”

Added sophomore forward/center Dallas Lauderdale, “Obviously I miss him, we all miss him, but we have to keep moving forward. We have to keep our head on the straight and narrow and we know we have a tough conference in the Big Ten coming up and we can’t really have distractions. Noop made a choice, that was his choice. We miss him but we hope he does well, and we’re going to keep on.”

“We’ve got to keep moving forward,” Matta said, “like when Dave (Lighty) went down (with a broken foot Dec. 17). It is what it is and away we go.

“It’s funny, when you’re dealing with kids it’s kind of on to the next thing. The coaches maybe hold on a little longer than the kids actually do. I think our guys have a pretty good understanding of, ‘Hey, this is the next job we’ve got to do.’ We’ve got a very good team coming in here tomorrow night and we’ve got to play better than we did on Saturday.”

Matta did not commit to any particular rotation with Lighty out possibly into February and Crater now departed.

“I’ll be honest with you, our focus right now is on getting each player better, getting this team better,” he said. “Lineup-wise I don’t know exactly what it’s going to be. I don’t think we’re at the stage yet where we can pinpoint it and say, ‘We’re going to do this.’ We’re not there yet, at that stage yet. We’re still, in a way, kind of searching each game, and we did that three years ago with a great team. ‘Are we going to play Daequan at the four? Are we going to sit Greg down? Those types of things.”

With Kecman still suspended for another week, the Buckeyes enter the Big Ten season with nine available scholarship players – and Matta would like to see contributions from all of them.

“We got dealt a joker when Dave went down,” he said. “That was your one experienced guy, the guy who was a little bit of the glue to it. We’re a young basketball team and we don’t quite have that luxury (of relying on a bunch of veterans).”

Matta said Hill and Offutt will both get a chance to play more to make up for the absence of Crater. Hill, at least, served as a backup to Jamar Butler last season.

“I think that’s the beauty of what we’re doing,” Matta said. “P.J. has got some experience and we’ll throw him out there. He’s practiced hard for 60 straight practices and wants an opportunity and he’s probably going to get it now.”

“I prepared like Abe Lincoln said – ‘Study and prepare so when your opportunity comes you’ll be ready,’ ” Hill said. “So that’s what I’ve been doing. I knew my time was going to come.”

Hill denied rumors that he actually was entertaining thoughts of transferring before Crater left a vacancy.

“I came here for a reason, more than just basketball,” he said. “Education and everything, I like the whole atmosphere at Ohio State. And I know if you can make it at the best level, you can make it on any level. I know there’s always going to be a fight and you’ve got to work. You may not always get what you want but if there’s opportunity to climb a ladder then you’ve got to stay and fight. That’s what I’ve been taught and that’s how my mom raised me. That’s what Ohio State is about. So I stuck and stayed. I’m not going anywhere.”