Jake Diebler himself illustrated just how far Ohio State was from where he wants to get to during his first season on Wednesday.
Gesturing toward banners listing the Buckeyes' Big Ten championships and Final Four appearances in the back of their practice gym at Ohio State basketball's media day on Wednesday, he said that's the standard he wants to lift the program to. Even after it missed out on the NCAA Tournament altogether in his first season.
“I don't apologize for having big expectations,” Diebler said. “I've been very consistent with that from the day I got this job. Much to the dismay of people who would say, 'Ah, you're setting the bar too high.' Like, Ohio State basketball, I believe, belongs as one of the best programs in the country. However, talking about it isn't enough. We've got a lot of work to do to get there.
“I think (we're) disappointed in how we finished the season last year, for sure. But we're not setting a lower bar because maybe the program hasn't been there in the past. To me, the bar in this program should always be at the very top.”
Diebler addressed topics big and small through the 40-minute press conference, from specifics on where he feels Ohio State will be better in 2025-26 to the growth of various players to NIL and roster construction and scheduling.
Catch the full video at the top of the page. Here are a couple of highlights:
“There were some clear deficiencies that we had. I think first and foremost it started with rebounding on both sides of the ball. ... Another issue for us was our free-throw rate of our opponents. We were the worst in the league at sending people to the free-throw line."
“In this league, you have to be able to change in the flow of the game. You can't change who you are. But you've got to be able to adjust. We struggled at times to do that. ... Our assist rate in practice has been a major improvement, major improvement.”– Jake Diebler on where Ohio State will be better this season
Diebler gave a more than four-minute answer to the question of what will be better about his team in 2025-26, far too much to quote in one block here. He highlighted how many games Ohio State lost by one or two scores and emphasized how much importance that placed on the margins of games.
In the rebounding department, Ohio State started a 6-8 center and 6-6 power forward for the bulk of last season, so adding size in the transfer portal was a big priority for Diebler, he said. The Buckeyes' projected starters now include a 7-0 center in Christoph Tilly, a 6-8 power forward in Brandon Noel and a 6-6 small forward in Devin Royal, who led the team in rebounding at the 4 last season.
“I love coaching A'mare, and he plays the game with a joy and an eagerness to get better. I think that level of humility and just consistency is rare for young players. And so he's certainly talented, he's got some great physical tools. But he has had, not just one or two high-level practices or moments since June, but he's had multiple stretches of high-level basketball and productive basketball, which is equally hard for young players to do early on.”– Jake Diebler on A'mare Bynum
One of the major X-factors for this season's Ohio State team is freshman power forward A'mare Bynum, who is set to back up Wright State transfer Brandon Noel at the position to start the year and factor into the Buckeyes' frontcourt rotation. A breakout first season from the composite top-70 prospect could do wonders for OSU.
For more coverage of Ohio State’s basketball media day, head to the Eleven Warriors YouTube page for video interviews with the following players:
