As Jake Dielber walked to the podium to field questions for the first time as Ohio State’s head coach, there was no shortage of fanfare at The Schottenstein Center.
Sounds blasted from Ohio State’s athletic band, echoed with applause from hundreds of fans, Diebler’s friends and family members, former Buckeye greats and athletic department representatives. As Diebler embraced future Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork on stage, he took a moment to compose himself, walked to the microphone set up in front of a few dozen gathered reporters.
“Wow,” Diebler said, a grin from ear to ear.
One day after Ohio State’s upset bid against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament fell just short, Bjork officially offered Diebler the job permanently after a 6-2 stretch following Chris Holtmann’s termination. Diebler accepted and finalized a five-year contract that will pay him a $2.5 million base salary per season.
Diebler is hired with the understanding that the program should annually compete for Big Ten championships.
“Ohio State is the best of the best,” Diebler said Monday. “We are going to do everything we can to push this basketball program to align with that.”
Ohio State has a significant tie to Diebler’s family, as his younger brother Jon was a former standout sharpshooter for the Buckeyes. Diebler is 37 years old, the same age that Bjork landed his first Athletic Director gig at Western Kentucky and the same age Thad Matta was entering his first season as Ohio State’s head coach in 2004.
Bjork said Monday he sees a lot of himself in Diebler and believes his first hire at Ohio State will improve the program's trajectory. Diebler has been dreaming of an opportunity like this all his life.
“Ohio State is a special place,” Diebler said. “It’s my dream job. I’ve seen firsthand what it can do for those that are connected to it. I wasn’t good enough to play here, but I got to see the impact it had on my brother and my family with him being here. How Buckeye Nation has supported him, the care the love, it’s something I’ve always appreciated and valued.”
A native of Gibsonburg, Ohio, Diebler couldn’t help but smile when asked about his Northwest Ohio roots. Diebler’s father, Keith, has been a longtime high school basketball coach in Ohio, whom Jon and Jake both played for in their prep days. Diebler is Ohio State’s first head coach from the state of Ohio since Randy Ayers, who coached the Buckeyes from 1989-97.
“I take a great deal of pride being from Northwest Ohio,” Diebler said. “If you know our family background we moved around a little bit. So when people ask where I’m from, I tell them I’m from the 419. I take a great deal of pride in that. If you look at the history of this program, the record books are filled with people from that area.”
In somewhat unusual fashion, Diebler won’t have to wait long after his introductory press conference before he makes his debut as Ohio State’s head coach. The Buckeyes are hosting seventh-seeded Cornell in the first round of the NIT at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and hope to continue the momentum built in Diebler’s first eight games in charge of the program.
“We need to finish this season well,” Diebler said. “The focus is serving these guys all the way through.”
Following Ohio State’s NIT run, though, Diebler will be tasked with building his staff. Ohio State assistant coach Jake Owens left Columbus to join Chris Holtmann’s staff at DePaul, creating at least two vacancies on the Buckeyes’ bench, and there could be others depending on whether Diebler wishes to retain assistants such as Mike Netti and Brandon Bailey.
“Relatability to players, connecting with those guys and understanding what goes into making this program special,” Dielber said when asked what qualities he’s hoping to find in potential staff hires. “Some guys already know that, certainly. It’s going to come down to evaluating areas that aren’t strengths for me and supplementing that with people who are strong in those areas. There’s obviously a great deal of thought that goes into it that begins far before you get this opportunity. But not as much attention has been put on that as it would if we weren’t still playing.”
Amid the NIT and staffing decisions, Diebler will also have to monitor the transfer portal. Monday marked the beginning of a 45-day transfer window for players around the country to depart their current school if they choose. Not only will Diebler look at potential additions for next year’s roster, but he’s also already started talking to players on his current roster in hopes of retaining the majority for the 2024-2025 campaign.
“Our focus is we’ve still got something to play for,” Diebler said. “Our focus as a program has been on that, but conversations have been started. We’ve gotta serve these guys well and see this season through. But as you guys have seen, there are some great players in this program right now that care about Ohio State.”
Diebler has served as Ohio State’s main recruiter in both the high school ranks and in the portal for the past few seasons, so he’ll have no shortage of experience navigating those waters. He said he hopes to balance future additions from the portal and through the high school ranks.
“It’s important at Ohio State that we’re able to recruit talented high school players, and we need to continue to do that,” Diebler said. “But we also need to use all the resources available to build the best roster possible. So that balance will be important and that will change to some degree from year to year. We’ll view it as the lens of what sets us up to achieve our goals.”
