Jake Diebler's first assistant coaching staff is complete.
On Monday, Ohio State basketball announced the hiring of former Penn State player Talor Battle, who had been an assistant coach at Northwestern since 2021, for the fifth and final assistant coaching spot on this year’s staff.
“Talor has great experience in the Big Ten both as a player and as a coach and I’m excited to welcome him to the Buckeye family,” Diebler said in a release. “He is elite at player development which is evident by the success Northwestern has had the past couple of seasons. He has the ability to recruit at a high level and knows what it takes to be successful in this conference. I’ve known Talor for quite a while and I’m looking forward to working alongside him as we take the next step as a program.”
Help us welcome another member of the staff to Buckeye Nation@JakeDiebler has announced the hiring of Assistant Coach Talor Battle. Battle joins the program having coached the last 4 years in the Big Ten, previously at Northwestern & Penn State.
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) June 3, 2024
https://t.co/w77ClmOTMC pic.twitter.com/55XYkkUfyU
Battle played at Penn State from 2007 through 2011 before a seven-year professional career overseas with clubs based in France, Germany, Sicily, Belgium, Israel, Hungary and Slovenia. He's the Nittany Lions' all-time leading scorer with 2,213 carer points.
Following his playing career, Battle embarked on his coaching journey in 2020 as an assistant at his alma mater before landing with the Wildcats the following year. There, he's helped Northwestern to its second and third NCAA Tournament berths in school history over the past two seasons.
Playing guard himself in college, Battle helped develop star Northwestern point guard Boo Buie into one of the Big Ten's best, finishing fourth in the conference in scoring (19 points per game) and fifth in assists (five per game) in 2023-24.
Battle also has some experience playing with Ohio State alumni, playing for team Scarlet and Gray (now Carmen's Crew) in 2018 as part of The Basketball Tournament. Jon Diebler, legendary OSU sharpshooter and Jake's brother, was one of his teammates on that squad, which former Buckeye star Evan Turner recruited him to as a close personal friend.
Battle joins Joel Justus, Luke Simons, Jamall Walker and Dave Dickerson as Diebler's first group of assistant coaches.
