The Truth About Chris Holtmann's Wife Lori Bedi
For the less athletically-minded, March Madness might bring to mind ideas of spring thaw, setting clocks ahead by an hour, or excitedly anticipating the arrival of summer. For those who love basketball, March Madness is an entirely different thing.
As the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) describes on their official website, the event refers to a college basketball tournament between 68 teams that compete for the national championship. It's very exciting.
You don't have to be a huge basketball fan, though, to be interested in the private world of the players and their partners. That's why VH1's Basketball Wives is such a hit. That's why we love reading about Larsa Pippen. It's why we care so much about Vanessa Bryant. While many of these are affiliated with the NBA rather than the NCAA, it doesn't matter. Basketball gives us thrills but it also gives us family, drama, and lots of love.
So one of the less commonly-known basketball spouses is Lori Bedi, wife to Chris Holtmann, who is a basketball coach at Ohio State University. Here's everything we know about her.
Why Chris Holtmann was annoying to Lori Bedi at first
Chris Holtmann met Lori Bedi at Taylor University in Indiana, according to IndyStar, where they were both working as hall directors. Holtmann wasn't particularly interested in this gig; he was simply doing it because part of his coaching job at the time demanded it of him. So in meetings, he'd sketch out basketball plays. The distraction annoyed some of the other hall directors, one of whom was Bedi herself.
But Bedi didn't stay annoyed for long. Hilariously, she had never seen a college basketball game before dating Holtmann, she told the Indianapolis Business Journal in 2015. In fact, their first date was at a sports bar in Muncie, Ind., so that they could watch a game. Either by default or osmosis, Bedi became a basketball fan.
The duo married on Sept. 11, 1999 which, she told the IBJ, is "the worst anniversary in the world." The duo share a daughter, Nora Jane, who "is probably going to be a more music or art kind of girl" rather than a basketball aficionado, Bedi said. While Bedi is obviously happy, she had some honest words about being married to a basketball coach. Here's what she said.
Lori Bedi said the basketball life "isn't for everybody"
While Lori Bedi and her husband, Chris Holtmann, are completely invested in the basketball world, Bedi was honest about the demands of such a life. "Being a coach's wife is not for everybody," she told the Indianapolis Business Journal in 2015. "If you're looking for the white picket fence, the husband-home-at-6-o'clock kind of life, you're not going to get it. But the adventure of it is second to none."
Bedi isn't looking back either. "He's doing what he loves and what he's best at," she said of Holtmann. "I think I've gotten so used to the life, it doesn't even really feel hard anymore."
She also said Holtmann takes games so seriously that sometimes he can't sleep, especially if they lose. "Early in our marriage, when we would lose a game that we should have won, I knew exactly which games I needed to make a bed for him on the couch," Bedi told the IBJ. "I knew he wasn't going to sleep. I knew he couldn't lay in bed, that he would just be going over it."
Basketball didn't just change Holtmann's sleep patterns, it impacted the home they bought. When they moved to Ohio, it was imperative that their home be close enough to campus that the players could get there quickly. Per Cleveland.com, Holtmann and Bedi picked a home that would feel like "an extension of the players lounge in the basketball facility." Bedi isn't just a basketball wife. She's an intrinsic part of the team.