Some fans might have lost it in the shuffle with the football team playing a pivotal top-five matchup at Penn State on Saturday, but Ohio State basketball season tips off on Monday.
A Buckeye team with a lot of new – new head coach, new assistants, a roster that is over half-filled with new players – opens its 2024-25 campaign against a top-20 Texas squad on Monday in Las Vegas. It's an opportunity to display the program on a national stage that Jake Diebler is excited for, and he's excited for the return of center Aaron Bradshaw – who missed the team’s exhibition against Cincinnati – as Ohio State will be “close to full strength” against the Longhorns.
Diebler added that the Buckeyes will be relying on a backcourt with plenty of experience while younger players in the frontcourt develop early in the season. He wants fans and team alumni to see a team that plays with an “extreme level of toughness and effort” as he starts his first season as a head coach.
- On his approach to the first week of play: "We are, for the first time, completely turning the page to preparing for someone else. ... It is now full-go prep for Texas."
- Diebler said there's still some toying with different lineups for the Buckeyes, but roles are starting to get defined. "We've been building toward a lot of roles. ... We've been running more specific actions and putting guys in specific positions. ... Some guys have been able to show a consistency that it will help us this season."
- Diebler said he anticipates the Buckeyes being "close to full strength" against Texas.
- The team bounced back and prepared well in practice after Ohio State's 80-62 exhibition loss to Cincinnati. "I felt like our team responded really well to what was a lengthy film session. ... That carried on throughout the week. ... We have to earn the right to play well by the way we prepare. ... I like us to practice at a pace and an urgency that the game almost slows down a little bit."
- On the benefits of starting with a strong opponent: "Scheduling is so complex ... I'm excited about our program being on a big stage game one of the college basketball season. ... Being on this stage day one of college basketball is something our guys are really excited about and our fans deserve."
- On Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart: "They're gonna be really, really important to the growth of our team as the season goes on. ... The more experience and consistent experience we can get them early on in the season will benefit them. ... Aaron being able to space the floor, Sean expanding his offensive repertoire. ... They complement each other really well."
- On Texas: "They have talented veterans, they have returners who are good players. ... They added players in the portal and they have a really talented freshman as well."
- Diebler wants the Buckeyes' basketball alumni to watch on Monday and be proud of the effort the team is giving. "It's important to me that our guys play with an extreme level of toughness and effort. ... I want us to be connected. We've now had a chance as a program to face real in-game adversity. ... I think we're ready to handle it well. Lot of excitement, there's some nerves certainly but we'll be ready."
- Diebler says Ohio State needs to rely on its veteran backcourt while talented but inexperienced pieces in the front court mature. "As those guys get experience and consistency, I think you're going to see our team grow significantly. ... Not that we don't have talent in the backcourt, because we do, but we do have experience in our backcourt."
- Diebler thinks highly of Texas as a team, but noted that it's hard to tell exactly where rosters are before any games are played. "I don't know that there's much we can do to quiet those (nerves). There's such a long prep time from June, when we get together as a team, to now. ... We'll certainly be feeling some of that, but I think we're built for it. ... I think now more than ever it's harder to determine who those top 25 teams are, and there's probably 45 teams that you look at and say (that about). ... There's so much newness and roster turnover now."
- On Bruce Thornton: "It's very comforting as a head coach to have a player that you can lean on and almost speak to him to try and get to the team at times. ... He has grown his game, raised his level in the offseason. ... He's gonna make a jump. He and I have talked openly about him improving his efficiency and pace and things like that, and he's embraced that. ... His leadership has grown, it's gotten even better. ... You'll see he and I having dialogue in the middle of the game because I trust what he sees in the game, and that's true of a handful of guys."
- While he enjoys the improvements his team has made in the run-up to the season, it will take real game reps to reach peak performance. "Time is what you need in order to build that on-court chemistry."
- On Evan Mahaffey's role: "Evan and I have talked and the biggest challenge is the consistency he plays with his energy. ... He's got good basketball instincts, but I think guys, sometimes they can overthink a little bit, sometimes that slows them down a little bit. ... I've been trying to get him to play free. ... Be an elite defender every night, be an elite rebounder every night and play with force offensively. ... Hopefully we'll see that confidence and we'll see that aggression come Monday. ... His role on this team might be a little bit different (than it was last season)."
