COLUMBUS — Ross Bjork was quickly thrown into the fire in determining Ohio State’s athletic future, even though he won’t technically be the athletic director full-time for another four months.
He was on a sabbatical at his home in Texas after his time as Texas A&M’s athletic director had concluded, preparing for his arrival in Columbus in March. He planned to spend four months in a role entitled Senior Advisor for Intercollegiate Athletics as he learned the ropes from Gene Smith.
But Smith’s decision to fire men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann late in the season sprung Bjork into action with what would be his first big assignment. He was tasked with finding the Buckeyes’ new long-term head coach, conducting a search where the answer came down to a simple criteria.
“We laid out a very specific profile about what we envisioned for Ohio State basketball,” Bjork said Monday. “Passion, energy, create a program identity, a track record of player development, a recruiting machine, especially here in the Midwest in the state of Ohio, strong leadership skills that can galvanize Buckeye Nation, someone who understands and also can capitalize in modern-day college athletics.”
That criteria led him to promote Jake Diebler, who’d spent the the rest of the year in an interim head coaching role leading OSU to a 6-2 record, the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Tournament and very nearly a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Diebler had been on Holtmann’s staff since 2019 and now takes over a roster where his mission is to bring the program back to prominence. That journey starts on Tuesday night, when Ohio State faces Cornell in the first round of the NIT, hoping to build for the future.
“We’re going to serve our roster, our players, our staff, this program with all the energy and passion that we could possibly do it,” Diebler said.
What else was said?
• Bjork on what makes up for Diebler’s lack of head coaching experience: “Either you have the wherewithal or you don’t. If you break down the moves made during games, he outcoached coaches that have been doing this for a long time.” Bjork brought up Diebler’s “born-to-coach mentality” and what’s coming down the line in terms of talent in the state.
• Brought up that Diebler recruited most of the players already on the roster. Said he reminds him of himself when he was first becoming an athletic director. Both were 37 when they got their first jobs.
• What’s the standard: “We should consistently be in the conversation for Big Ten championships” Said they have a “blue-blood type program and now we have to be consistent.”
• Knew they needed clarity going into this week on who would be the next coach.
• Bjork said the established track record Diebler has in being from Ohio and the recruiting efforts was the added bonus on top of the profile they were looking for.
• Diebler on the talent in Ohio: “We want guys from this state to be part of this program.” Said when players from Ohio come to Ohio State it feels like “you get an extra 2% out of them.”
• Diebler wants a balance between recruiting high school players and bringing in additions from the transfer portal: “That’ll change to some degree from year to year.” Mentioned that roster retention is of great importance. Conversations have already been started to make sure this roster stays intact.
