By Alex Andrejev, Cameron Teague Robinson and Nicole Auerbach
Ohio State is concentrating on interim males’s basketball coach Jake Diebler for the full-time position, a supply briefed on the hiring course of confirmed Saturday. The Area of 68 first reported the information.
Diebler, who beforehand served because the group’s affiliate head coach, took over within the interim head teaching position on Feb. 14 when Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann in the midst of Holtmann’s seventh season. Holtmann has since been employed by DePaul.
Diebler received six of his eight video games because the Buckeyes’ interim head coach, together with a house win over No. 2 Purdue in his first sport. The Buckeyes additionally ended a 16-game highway dropping streak, which stretched again to Jan. 1, 2023, with a 60-57 win over Michigan State in simply Diebler’s third sport.
Diebler, 37, is an Ohio native who performed at Valparaiso College in Indiana. He served on Valparaiso’s workers for 4 years earlier than becoming a member of Ohio State as a video coordinator from 2014-16. In 2019, he returned to Ohio State as an assistant coach after a three-year stint at Vanderbilt in the identical position.
Underneath Holtmann, the Buckeyes appeared within the NCAA Match in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 (and would have in 2020), however the group was 30-30 over his ultimate 60 video games with a 9-25 Massive Ten report.
The Buckeyes fell to Illinois 77-74 within the Massive Ten Match quarterfinals Friday.
The case for hiring Diebler
Although Ohio State is unlikely to make the NCAA Match, its season was saved by athletic director Gene Smith’s resolution to fireside Holtmann and title Diebler the interim.
It grew to become evident Diebler wanted to be a candidate within the head teaching search after main the Buckeyes on a four-game successful streak to finish the common season. However within the Massive Ten Match, Ohio State beat Iowa and misplaced by three factors to Illinois. A win in opposition to Illinois would’ve put the Buckeyes squarely on the bubble for the NCAA Match.
Ohio State completed the season 20-13 and 9/11 in convention play with Diebler taking full credit score for six of these wins in only one month.
Quickly-to-be athletic director Ross Bjork ran the teaching search and whether or not it really works out or not, deserves credit score for concentrating on the candidate that makes probably the most sense, Diebler, the man who saved Ohio State’s season. — Cameron Teague Robinson, Ohio State beat author
Required studying
(Picture: David Berding / Getty Photographs)
