Jake Diebler wore the uncertainty around his temples. It was March 15, 2024, and the Ohio State interim men’s basketball coach had just come three points shy of reaching the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
The failure to upset Illinois ended any realistic hopes OSU had of making the men’s NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes now faced the question of who would coach them moving forward.
Diebler was most definitely a candidate. Since taking over for Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14, Diebler had led the team to a 6-2 record.
But inside the Target Center locker room in Minneapolis, Diebler said that while it had been a lot of fun coaching the Buckeyes, he hadn’t spent much time thinking about whether he’d done enough to earn the full-time job.
“As far as what’s next, I don’t think there’s been appropriate time to think through that because the focus has been on the here and now,” he said after that 77-74 loss to Illinois. “There will be a time for that.”
He said it with a smile that somehow betrayed the toll that the journey had taken on him. Diebler looked tired and said he was hoping to catch up on some rest while waiting to see what would come next.
It was not a long wait.
The next day, Diebler was offered and accepted the job from incoming athletic director Ross Bjork. Two years to the day of that loss to the Fighting Illini, Diebler was gathered with the 2025-26 Buckeyes at a private club in Central Ohio when they were quickly announced as part of the 2026 men’s NCAA Tournament, ending a three-season tournament drought.
They were the third team the CBS broadcast unveiled in revealing the No. 8 seed Buckeyes would take on the No. 9 seed, TCU, in Greenville, South Carolina.
Reflecting on the two years in between losing to Illinois and being named to the NCAA Tournament, Diebler didn’t sound much different now than he did then.
“My faith is my foundation, so I try not to get caught up too much in what’s next but just be in the moment and serve those people that are around me as well as I possibly can,” he said. “That’s what I did when I was interim coach. That’s what we did all year last year and what we did this year, and I feel like I’ve gotten even better at it since that [Big Ten Tournament] game in Minnesota.”
The men’s basketball team could not celebrate in its home arena, which was booked for Ohio’s high school wrestling tournament, so the Buckeyes celebrated at an undisclosed location elsewhere. No reporters were permitted, but a video taken by the program’s social media staff showed Diebler embracing senior guard Bruce Thornton as he stood in the back of the group leaning against a wall.
Thornton and junior forward Devin Royal are the only Buckeyes who played in that Illinois game still with the program.
“This is about our players and how hard they’ve worked and our program with the progress that we’ve made,” Diebler said. “This season still is not finished, and we’ve got a final chapter to write. I’m excited about our guys, where their minds are at, where we’re at health-wise, so we can write this last chapter well.”
Ohio State’s staffers had been planning for roughly a dozen different teams, Diebler said, but the focus after the selection show quickly turned to preparing specifically for the Horned Frogs.
Still, there was at least one moment for reflection.
A former video coordinator at Ohio State, Diebler started his career as a graduate assistant before making it all the way up the ladder, and his first NCAA Tournament bid as a head coach hit differently, he admitted.
“Considering how far we’ve come in two years and that interim stretch, when you think of where we were and where we are now, it did,” he said. “You see your name pop up, it felt different, then you see TCU pop up, and that changed very quickly. Now it’s all about getting ready.”
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State’s Jake Diebler celebrates first March Madness appearance
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
