After Chris Holtmann is fired, who is Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler?
At minimum, Ohio State has seven games remaining in the 2023-24 season. Six regular-season games, starting with a Sunday showdown with No. 2 Purdue at Value City Arena, are on the schedule with dates, times and opponents long finalized.
What comes after that will depend on how these six games, just shy of 20% of the season, play out. They’ll affect Big Ten Tournament seeding, the only postseason the Buckeyes are guaranteed to enjoy this season. However long the season lasts, Ohio State will have a new man in charge for the remainder.
Wednesday morning, athletic director Gene Smith fired coach Chris Holtmann amid his seventh season with the program. Tuesday night, the Buckeyes lost at No. 20 Wisconsin, 62-54, to drop to 14-11 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten. On the heels of a 16-19 season where Ohio State 5-15 in league play, it was enough for Smith to send Holtmann off with a buyout of $12.8 million.
In his place steps Jake Diebler, a 37-year-old Ohio native who has been promoted to interim coach for the remainder of the season. Now in his fifth year with the program, Diebler has been associate head coach since the 2021-22 season.
“I’m so thankful Jake Diebler stepped up and accepted the challenge,” Smith said. “That’s not easy. I hope you guys appreciate that. What he’s doing is not easy. My heart is with him to a great degree.”
Here’s what you need to know about Diebler.
He’s from a basketball family
The sport runs deep in the Diebler family. All three boys grew up playing for their father, longtime Ohio prep coach Keith Diebler, who at age 72 is still coaching both boys’ basketball and girls’ volleyball at Lakeside Marblehead (Ohio) Danbury. His oldest brother, Jeremiah, was a prolific scorer at Gibsonburg in Northwest Ohio while Jake played his first three seasons at Fostoria.
The Dieblers moved to Upper Sandusky for his senior season, where he played for his dad alongside younger brother Jon and led the Rams to a state championship. As a senior, Jake Diebler was named Ohio’s Division II co-player of the year, and he graduated as the state’s all-time leader in assists (835) and steals (578).
His youngest brother became Ohio’s all-time leading prep scorer and became Ohio State’s all-time leading 3-point shooter while playing for the Buckeyes from 2007-11.
Together, Jon and Jake Diebler were inducted into the Upper Sandusky athletics hall of fame.
This is Jake Diebler’s second stint at Ohio State
After a four-year playing career at Valparaiso, Jake Diebler began his coaching career there as a student assistant in 2009-10. He moved up to become director of basketball operations the following year and was an assistant coach from 2011-13.
He then left the school to become Ohio State’s video coordinator for coach Thad Matta, a role he held from 2013-16. From there, it was onto Vanderbilt, where he was reunited with coach Bryce Drew. After the Commodores lost star freshman Darius Garland (whom Diebler recruited) to injury after only five games, Vanderbilt finished 9-23 overall and 0-18 in the SEC. Drew was fired, and Diebler was hired to fill a vacancy on Holtmann’s staff after assistant coach Mike Schrage was named head coach at Vanderbilt.
He’s a prolific recruiter
Ohio State pinned its hopes on its 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, and Diebler was the lead recruiter on all nine players the Buckeyes signed in those classes. Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara, Brice Sensabaugh and Bowen Hardman in 2022 and Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal, Taison Chatman and Austin Parks in 2023 were all primarily recruited by Diebler.
He’s overseen Ohio State’s offense and defense
Holtmann has preferred to have one coach be responsible for Ohio State’s offense and another for its defense. In 2021-22, Diebler was Ohio State’s defensive coach, and the Buckeyes continued what has been a downward trend in the national rankings by finishing 111th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.
The next season, Diebler was moved to offense to take the role vacated when associate head coach Ryan Pedon took the head coaching job at Illinois State. Ohio State finished 19th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency in 2022-23 and is No. 46 this season.
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Jake Diebler has coached two games for Ohio State
Although he’s never been the full-time top guy, Diebler has filled in for Holtmann on two occasions.
As Ohio State hosted Northwestern on Jan. 9, 2022, it was without Holtmann and Pedon after both tested positive for COVID-19. In their place, Diebler was elevated to acting coach for the day and got a 34-point performance from E.J. Liddell in a 95-87 win at Value City Arena.
More recently, Diebler filled in for Holtmann when the coach came down with the flu and missed a Dec. 21 home game against New Orleans. The Buckeyes took care of the Privateers, 78-36.
Now he’ll have seven games to keep the seat warm.
“We have days between now and Sunday where you have time to accept the emotions of this moment and adjust and begin to coach our kids,” Smith said. “The runway for him is the best it can possibly be when we’re this late in the season. So appreciative of him stepping up, being a warrior and taking this on.
“I think he’s a very good coach. I think he’s going to demonstrate for the kids that we just need to keep fighting all the way through.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: After firing Chris Holtmann, Ohio State turns to Jake Diebler
