When the Ohio State Buckeyes fired head coach Chris Holtmann on February 14, the team was 14-11 and 4-10 in Big Ten play.
Additionally, they were in the midst of a school-record 18-game road losing streak.
Assistant coach Jake Diebler was given the interim after the firing, rallying the team to a 5-1 finish over their last six regular season games, including a pair of road wins and a victory over then-No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers. The Big Ten Tournament saw Ohio State pick up a win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round before falling to the Illinois Fighting Illini in the quarterfinals.
Shortly before their game against Illinois on Friday, Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch reported that the coaching search was down to Diebler or Florida Athletic Owls coach Dusty May, a midwest native who led the Owls to the Final Four last season.
Sources: The #OhioState coaching search is entering its final stage and Jake Diebler and Dusty May are cementing as the top two candidates https://t.co/cUnCGJSItE
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) March 15, 2024
On Saturday night, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported that the Buckeyes were expected to remove the interim tag and name Diebler the full-time head coach.
Before coming to Ohio State, Diebler worked with Bryce Drew at Valporaiso (both men’s alma mater) and subsequently followed Drew to Vanderbilt where he was instrumental in recruiting Darrius Garland, one of the only five-star commits in school history.
While Jake Diebler didn’t attend Ohio State, Buckeye fans will undoubtedly remember his brother Jon Diebler, who played at Ohio State from 2007-11 and is the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter.
[ESPN, Adam Jardy]
