Multi-tasking Ohio State keeping focus on Virginia Tech before NIT showdown
Just because Jake Diebler has had more time to prepare for Saturday’s game doesn’t mean life is slowing down.
The days leading into Tuesday’s NIT opener against Cornell were anything but dull. Ohio State bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament with a quarterfinal loss Friday in Minneapolis, Diebler agreed to take the head coaching job Saturday and was announced Sunday afternoon. The Buckeyes voted as a team, accepted an NIT bid and were announced Sunday night as a No. 2 seed with a home game against the Big Red scheduled for not even 48 hours later.
In between, Ohio State publicly introduced Diebler with a Monday press conference before the Buckeyes held their lone practice to prepare for Cornell. Winning that game set up Saturday night’s second-round home game with No. 3 seed Virginia Tech, a game Ohio State will have had a normal amount of time with which to prepare.
If only it was just a game that was on Diebler’s to-do list.
“I’m still waiting on that deep breath, but it has been nice to have the game prep and the practice time,” he said Friday morning. “I think that seems to be the most normal part of the day right now and I enjoy being in the gym with guys and that time we have preparing has been great. That deep breath may not come for a while, but we’re having fun preparing.”
As the first round of the NCAA Tournament was playing out Thursday night, Diebler said he had been busy watching film on the Hokies and preparing for coach Mike Young’s offense. There’s been plenty of planning for how to beat Virginia Tech and extend the season for another game, but there’s been no shortage of off-the-court work that’s required attention.
On the roster, sophomore guard and captain Bruce Thornton returned to practice and is expected to be available for the Virginia Tech game after spraining his ankle midway through the second half against Cornell. Freshman wing Scotty Middleton missed the game while spending time at home for a family situation and had not returned to Ohio State as of Friday morning, Diebler said.
An incomplete roster mirrors a coaching staff being held together with athletic tape and elbow grease. When Diebler was elevated to interim coach after Chris Holtmann was fired Feb. 14, the move left the Buckeyes short one full-time assistant. To address that, director of professional development Terence Dials was moved into a role with some coaching responsibilities.
Then the Buckeyes lost assistant coach Jack Owens, who followed Holtmann to DePaul, further thinning the staff. Diebler has two full-time assistants remaining: Mike Netti and Brandon Bailey.
“It’s all hands on deck right now,” Diebler said. “Nick Kellogg and Terence Dials, those have been the two guys who have had to step up into significantly different roles … some real coaching roles. It’s a great experience for them. They have a connection with our guys.”
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Conversations about who will remain and what changes will be made have started, Diebler said, but for now the focus is on Virginia Tech.
“You’re seeing just how committed of a group we have to serving this team well,” he said. “We’ve got some high-character, talented guys on staff who have followed through on that commitment. Our focus really is just on this team.”
Then there’s the transfer portal, which opened Monday. No Buckeyes have entered it, but the coaching staff has had to monitor it with an eye on next season. Diebler said the coaches are “multi-tasking” as they try to further this season while making sure they don’t miss something that could help next year.
“We’re not going to let anything else take away from serving this group and this team as best as we possibly can and preparing as best as we possibly can for Saturday,” he said. “Then when we have the moments where when we’re able to, we’re certainly monitoring the portal.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 2024 NIT: How Ohio State basketball is preparing for Virginia Tech
