5 things we learned from Ohio State coach Jake Diebler's first offseason press conference
The specific goals for each day didn’t matter much, they were so numerous.
When the 2023-24 Ohio State season ended with a quarterfinal NIT loss to Georgia, newly elevated head coach Jake Diebler had a lengthy to-do list. There was a roster that needed attention, a transfer portal that needed monitoring and a coaching staff that needed to be hired.
Short on resources at hand and even shorter on time, Diebler said set about filling out the 2024-25 roster both on the bench and on the court by doing his best to attack each day with a productive mindset.
“Certainly the staff component was important and getting some help, but you couldn’t not recruit, roster management, all those things,” Diebler said Monday at his first offseason press conference. “It was a blur.”
Things are just now starting to come into focus for the Buckeyes with Diebler at the helm. Five new assistant coaches have been hired. Four players transferred into the program after five others transferred out. Two freshman have enrolled. A schedule is starting to take shape.
It’s undoubtedly been a lot. Monday morning, as the Buckeyes prepared for their first summer workouts, Diebler addressed a number of topics with reporters while seated outside the practice gym inside the Jerome Schottenstein Center.
There’s a lot of ground to cover in the coming weeks. Here are five things we learned Monday morning.
Competition for playing time is expected across the board
A question about the center position revealed a greater truth about the entire roster. Between Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw, Duke transfer Sean Stewart and sophomore Austin Parks, Diebler was questioned about having three guys essentially battling for two spots in the playing rotation.
Instead, Diebler said the opportunity is there for multiple players to force their way into playing time at multiple spots.
“I’ve challenged guys to expand their game this offseason and to be able to play multiple positions so that going into games, we can make some adjustments with our lineups to be able to shift guys to different positions,” Diebler said. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily two or three guys, it could be 4-5 by the end of the summer.”
That versatility was important in adding pieces via the portal, but Diebler said there were other factors that helped set apart a transfer class that also includes South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson Jr. and San Diego State wing Micah Parrish.
“All four of those guys were in the NCAA Tournament and won at a certain level last year,” he said. “That was something I’m really excited about. Micah played in a national title game two years ago and went on a Sweet 16 run. Meechie helped lead South Carolina to the best season they’ve had in a long time. Aaron and Sean for being young players, to get NCAA Tournament experience is very valuable.”
All 14 players including walk-ons Colby Baumann and Braylen Nash will begin summer workouts fully healthy, Diebler said.
Ohio State will utilize its final roster spot
The Buckeyes have added four transfers to the 2024-25 roster and remain in the market to add a fifth. Ohio State has 12 players on scholarship but Diebler said the plan is to get to 13, although he did not offer many more specifics on the topic.
“The plans are to fill it,” he said. “I can’t get into too much detail on it right now. We’re trying to fill it and being really intentional about it.”
Sources have told The Dispatch that the Buckeyes are looking to add a developmental big man via the international route.
Winning cultures, NCAA Tournament experience key factors in staff hires
In hiring five assistant coaches, Diebler said it was important to find coaches who could complement each other and who shared his vision for how he wants the program to be moving forward.
And just like with adding via the portal, experience with winning at a high level was important.
“Joel (Justus) coming from N.C. State and the (Final Four) run that they went on (last year), his experience will be valuable for us,” Diebler said. “Jamaal (Walker) coming off the best three-year stretch in the history of the school (at Grand Canyon). Certainly his experience in the Big Ten (at Illinois) was important. Talor Battle, Northwestern, unbelievable success both in our league and in the NCAA Tournament, best in the history in the school as well.
“Luke (Simons) being at Baylor and working for Scott Drew, someone who I know and trust, and seeing how that program is run is certainly going to be valuable for us. Dave Dickerson, who’s certainly a familiar name around here, he was on the last staff that went to a Final Four here and won a Big Ten championship.”
Buckeyes are close to adding a marquee home game
The changing landscape of college basketball amid NIL has added new challenges to scheduling. With some conferences bound to playing others in annual cross-league challenges and teams increasingly considering participating in neutral-site games that can booster NIL coffers and generate more opportunities for players, getting a high-major team to agree to a true home-and-home series is more challenging than ever.
Ohio State is learning that firsthand this year. The Buckeyes will return a home-and-home game with Texas A&M this season and have two other marquee opponents known to be on the schedule: Ohio State will play Texas at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 4 and Kentucky as part of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 21.
There will be a home game at some point against Green Bay, which will be coached by Doug Gottlieb. Otherwise, Diebler said the Buckeyes are still working to add a high-major opponent to the home schedule at Value City Arena.
“We’re getting close to finalizing another home-and-home deal that would be with another high-major team,” Diebler said. “Our preference is to start that at home this year.
“Scheduling, it’s hard right now. We’ve reached out to tons and tons of teams that would in the last few years be considered the top-end teams in each respective power conference to try and schedule but a lot of teams are transitioning from home and homes to neutral-site games.”
Going forward, Diebler said he hopes to always have a high-major opponent play at Ohio State each season.
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Aaron Bradshaw, Sean Stewart expected to make jumps
Ohio State’s transfer adds from Duke and Kentucky both bring unrealized high school rankings after one season of college basketball. The 7-1, 225-pound Bradshaw was a five-star prospect and a consensus top-five recruit while the 6-9, 230-pound Stewart was a five-star, top-20 prospect.
Bradshaw averaged 4.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 26 games for the Wildcats. Stewart averaged 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in 33 games for the Blue Devils. Both are expected to be primary rotation players for the Buckeyes and will be counted on to take significant steps forward in their second seasons of college basketball.
Diebler said he believes they can do so in part because they will be playing with a veteran backcourt anchored by two-time captain Bruce Thornton and Johnson.
“If you look at the last 5-10 years, even going back a little before some of the COVID year stuff, you saw really talented freshmen who stayed until their sophomore year make, across the board, significant improvement,” he said. “Both those guys work really hard and that’s why I’m confident they’re going to be able to make that jump.
“I also love that we have a veteran backcourt. I think that’s an important component too that will help the transition for them going from maybe a more limited role to a significantly increased role.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State coach Jake Diebler's first summer press conference: 5 things
