Since taking over as the full-time men’s basketball coach, Ohio State’s Jake Diebler has not shied away from talking about championships. He believes the Buckeyes should be somewhere at the top of the sport and within the Big Ten each year.
And as a native Ohioan, he’s gone out of his way to emphasize the school’s rivalry with Michigan. At his urging and with the support of Wolverines coach Dusty May, the Big Ten acquiesced to protecting the rivalry as part of an annual home-and-home series in a conference with 18 teams and only 20 league games.
So when Michigan steamrolled its way to the Big Ten’s first national championship in 26 years, it had to have had some effect on its rival to the south. But while Diebler implicitly acknowledged that notion in his first official offseason press conference since the 2025-26 season, he shot down the notion that Michigan’s title added any pressure to his plate.
“I don’t know that there’s a way to put more pressure on me than I do on myself,” he said. “The bulk of that comes from the competitive nature that I have, but also the love and respect for this program that I have. Certainly, we’re trying to win a championship here. We’ve gained some significant ground from year one to now, and everybody’s not operating under the same speed, but we’re trying to get there now. That’s our goal.”
Diebler and May were hired at their respective universities during the 2024 offseason. Although Diebler led the Buckeyes past the Wolverines during the 2023-24 season as interim coach, he is 0-4 against Michigan since May took charge, including an 0-3 mark last season. Ohio State battled its way to a 12-point loss at the Crisler Center on Jan. 23, took a 21-point home loss to the Wolverines on Feb. 8 and dropped a four-point thriller in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals March 13.
Michigan finished the season 37-3, with each loss by single digits.
“Right now we’re focused on Ohio State and making sure we’re doing everything we can every single day to push this program up,” Diebler said. “It’s a fight in [what I think is] the toughest league in the country, but we’re fighting hard. Certainly, [we’re] aware of not just them but the surroundings of our conference. You can look at a handful of teams in our conference in the last 5-7 years who have operated at a high level, and that’s what we’re pushing to become.”
After beating Ohio State at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, Wolverines star Yaxel Lendeborg made it clear that he didn’t see the Buckeyes as being on the same level.
“We felt like they’re a good team, but they don’t belong in the same conversation as us,” he said after the game.
Ohio State will play Michigan, Iowa and Penn State twice this season, and Diebler said the Buckeyes will be ready for the Wolverines.
“That game for us is an important one,” he said. “It didn’t minimize the game whether we won or lost; it’s an important game every year and it’s going to be an important game this year. We’re going to play them twice, and we’re going to be ready and certainly looking forward to those matchups.”
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 says Michigan title adds no pressure to job
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
