Jake Diebler was an easy choice but the quick solution for Ohio State

Jake Diebler was an easy choice but the quick solution for Ohio State

It’s all yours J okay Co Michael you can have a seat right here right there behind Bryant you’ll be able to see you Bab I know you will oh let me uh thank everybody for being here thank you for coming appreciate it appreciate it it’s beautiful to see all these young puppies

Over here that used to play for us two of them but uh thank you for being here um got a great announcement today and uh it’s no secret I I first and foremost I want to thank uh uh Jake and and our current players for uh job well done uh

Taking on uh unbelievable task uh in the face of adversity uh unbelievable lesson so I want to thank Jake I want to thank the support staff thank the players for uh taking that on I think I see Zed over there with his hat on the appropriate

Way look at him he don’t even know I’m talking about it but uh they just did a marvelous job so proud of them uh secondly I I do want to thank the former players um you know Ross is going to talk about that a little bit but having

Them engaged along the way has has been phenomenal I want to thank the the foundation uh for their great support uh in the nil space uh theyve just been phenomenal so thank you Brian and and Ron and all the others for your great support um you know I have the

Opportunity to introduce Ross who you all know and have met but I want to compliment him on a job well done this was a thorough search um done exceptionally well uh lot of due diligence and a lot of conversations um just really proud of of how he took his

Time and allowed the process to work a lot of noise around searches uh these type of searches and there was a lot of lot of noise uh but a lot of experts a lot of sources uh that were uh out there uh but the only source was him and so he he

Kept it to the vest and he just did a marvelous job in finding Jake uh coming home so our our athletic director let me pause for a moment say that the right way our athletic director Ross Bor Jean can we Jean can we hire you part-time as the MC in retirement we’ll

Have to convince him to come back I think especially Sheila I think Sheila is ready to to uh to hit the desert here pretty soon so greetings I guess I’m supposed to say oh all right we got that down so I’m I’m learning I’ve been on the ground uh 16

Days so uh I’m I’m learning I’m going to thank Jean here in a second but I just want to thank everyone for being here today from the band to our athletes to our staff and everyone is here this is a great day to be a buckeye as we

Celebrate the naming of our new head coach and Ohio native Jake debler so nothing like uh hitting the ground running as the incoming athletic director Jean didn’t afford me a luxury of having kind of a honeymoon phase so I had no shot at that now that this search

Is was underway so I was on my sabatical sabatical back in Texas kind of just hanging out kind of resting relaxing and Jean calls me about mid-February and says okay big boy you’re doing a search so created the bunker uh back in my house in Texas and started watching a lot of college

Basketball and making sure that I was prepared so it it’s all good it’s part of uh being being in leadership I think we have uh not quite hundreds of debler family members but several so we’re glad that you are here Jordan this is real this is happening she was a little

Skeptical even about an hour into the conversation on Saturday she wasn’t quite sure and and the girls were representing Jake as his agent as well they wanted to look at the papers that were in in front of him so I I really want to pause here and give special

Thanks to to Jean and and really just for his support and advice during this search so I I’m the new guy around here I don’t know how procedures work I don’t know how you engage with HR and legal counsel and all of those kind of things

So he was really great in navigating all the things that have to happen from a procedural standpoint but also to make sure that we were aligning with the culture and with the values of the University so really his legacy experience just helped me uh be a guide through this process so

I want to thank Jean let’s give Jean another round of applause so I I I’ve learned so much over the last couple weeks like I said I’ve been on the ground 16 days and you know connecting with Ohio roots that we have in our family in fact I ran into a

Gentleman over here who went to high school with my uncle at Harden Northern dick over there so uh thank you for for being here and so the most important people are the players so I know we have some players here and I want to commend them for their toughness and and really

Their togetherness through the last month or so I know Zed’s over here maybe some other guys are here but but really want to commend them because we’re only here because of our athletes period we have jobs because of student athletes so I really want to commend them through an

Uncertain time over the last five weeks or so we have a lot of Staff we have a lot of coaches if our staff our athletic staff and our coaches could just kind of wave and be acknowledged and especially those who help set this up because we

Have a busy weekend here we have a game tomorrow night at 700 we’ve got the NCAA tournament on the women’s side it’s a busy week in the shot so I want to thank the staff who really made uh today and the rest of this week uh possible former

Players it looks like uh Michael I didn’t have a big enough Rolodex when I was starting to call former players but thank you guys for being here today that means a lot and really signifies again what it means to be a buckeye I want to thank president Ted Carter who due to a

Previous uh scheduled travel could not be here today but he’s fired up he sees the wherewithal that Jake has he’s watched him up close and personal he knows the importance of Athletics he knows the importance of getting this higher right and so we want we want to

Thank him from afar today but he shares in the excitement about the future under coach deer’s leadership our trustees our Board of Trustees who have to approve everything right through the process we want to thank them for their leadership we we had a very thorough and comprehensive search where’s uh where’s Dan

Koren Dan stand up so Dan serves as our executive athletic associate athletic director and Sport administrator for men’s basketball I’ve known Dan for over 20 years he and I formed a great team in this process he was great he was thorough he understands what it means to

Be a buckeye so I want to commend Dan for your leadership but Dan now we have to get back to raising money so let’s get back after it we also use the services of uh Collegiate Sports Associates Todd Turner the founder Craig little page former athletic director and

Basketball coach and then Drew Turner is the president and CEO of Collegiate Sports Associates we use their expertise to make sure that we were doing our due diligence to make sure that we were contacting the right candidates to make sure that our intelligence was aligning with the right decision we laid out a

Very specific profile about what we envisioned for Ohio State basketball 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 born to coach Jake debler fits each one of these characteristics and then some but as the new person here in Columbus I was doing this from afar and so I needed to make sure that I could believe characteristics I could believe profile but I had to cross check that and make

Sure that those who built the program Blood Sweat and Tears also I was able to talk to so that goes to the tradition so I talked to at least 15 former players and that was really a neat part of this aspect and maybe maybe as a new person

Maybe I wouldn’t have done that otherwise right because there was a lot of other things to accomplish and maybe I wouldn’t have connected as much as I did with the former players that I spoke to but but I asked them questions what does success look like what does it mean

To be the Ohio State coach what do you expect in the program and the feedback was consistent they wanted leadership they wanted a fit for Ohio State and they wanted relatability among a lot of other things but it was great to hear that they expect Excellence so thank you to

Those I talked to in the audience it sounds like again I need to expand that Rolodex as well but it really validated that Jake is the right guy for this job so in closing it may be easy to say that we just walked right down the hallway

It’s an easy pick he’s down the hallway we could just name him our head coach but we we pressed Jake on what it takes to build championships what it takes to to make changes as the leader in the program we asked him about modern day Athletics and we have a program what’s

Really neat about this is we have a program that’s ready to excel we have a program that’s ready to take flight and with the right kind of adjustments we know that we can cut down Nets and and raise those ladders that we all expect so every time we checked the profile the

Values of Ohio State the beacon was Jake it just kept pointing to that he’s the right guy and so this was really cool when Dan and I went to the debler house on Saturday night I’ll try not to get emotional about this to make the official offer I

Asked Jordan and Jake are you ready to be the first family of Ohio State basketball of course they said yes but this was what was really neat the the passion the spiritual Faith the family the vision the energy all of that was present in that moment on Saturday night and so

That’s what it’s really all about this is a family and that’s what it means to be a buckeye and so in that moment it really struck me that this is a calling for Jake debler Ohio Native Son of a coach we might have to hire you as a consultant or you can volunteer

Right he had to work for everything that he’s achieved hard work defines Jake debler he played the game at a high level his brother played here so really Saturday night in the in the living room there in the kitchen it just made all of this feel right and I’m so confident in

The future of Buckeye basketball so it’s time to bring out those ladders it’s time to bring out those scissors and so please welcome your new head coach of Ohio State basketball Jake [Applause] [Applause] debler was you uh you kep me up a little later than probably probably should have got

Started an hour earlier but um wow it’s uh growing up you have dreams and you never fully get to predict if or when those dreams will come true and so I just want to praise God for being able to live out a dream of mine this is a dream and it wouldn’t be

Possible without my wife Jordan my beautiful babies James Jessa and Jackson it wouldn’t be possible without my family my mom and dad my brother um best friends cousins like my wife’s F we have such family so important to us it’s been ingrained in me from the time

That I could start walking when I was interrupting my dad’s practices and that family has expanded Beyond just our family it’s it’s the basketball family that we’ve been a part of guys that my dad coached before I was even born guys that I played with whether it

Was in Middle School or high school or college my best friend and college teammate is here so you’re going to hear me talk about over and over again family and part of our family is Ross Bor thank you thank you part of our family is President Carter

Thank you President Carter and thank you Jean Smith for choosing me to fill in and empowering me to to be myself and the mentor that you’ve been to me thank you and thank you Sheila thank you Dan choren for the mentor that you’ve been this is all part of our family thank you

Team 125 thank you to our guys for how they believed and they stayed connected how they LED through the adversity that we went through thank you to our staff of team 125 our managers the people of around the shot who we come in contact with every single day there’s so many

Thank yous and I know I’m missing people but I just I know I wouldn’t be here if as raw said I wasn’t called to be here and if it weren’t for out if it if it were not for those people so I owe so many thank

Yous and now I want to turn my attention to this group right here I’m humbled to be in this position I take so seriously the foundation that you guys have laid for this program that which we stand upon and hopefully we will honor in the greatest way to help get this

Thing to the heights that it belongs so if we can can we please give the former players that are here a round of applause if you guys will stand up please stand up thank you this program has a rich tradition and it’s because of these guys and the and

The guys before them and when we talk about family in this program it expands beyond the current roster the current staff it it expands Beyond guys who may be played recently it it’s it’s all the way back to the beginning and the amount of support that we got the last month

From our former players guys stopping into practice spending time with our guys speaking about what it means to wear in Ohio State Jersey I will forever be grateful for those moments thank you for the support this is just the beginning of us building and growing that relationship because this is your

Program we are stewards of this we want to serve this program my family and I our staff will serve this program with everything we have and you guys are a real source of motivation for that so so thank you it became clear from the very beginning when Ross talked about his

Expectations for this program that we were in alignment we have great expectations for this uh we are going to we are going to commit and make decision through the lens of what helps Ohio State basketball win a champion ship and cut down those Nets that he talked

About we are going to serve our roster our players our staff this program with all the energy and passion that we could possibly do it family is a multi-dimensional thing what each member does affects the other we’ve talked about how big that family is we are all

Going to be committed we’re going to surround ourselves with people who are committed to to moving in the same direction and caring and loving on everybody who is a part of that Ohio state is a special place it’s talked about how that is my dream job but it it’s so special

This University I’ve seen firsthand what it can do for those who are connected to it I wasn’t good enough to play here but I got to see the impact it had on my brother and my family him being here how Buckeye nation has supported him the care the love

It’s something I’ve always appreciated and valued there’s also one of the best things about Ohio state is the elite level people in this department across this campus Ohio state is the best of the best and we are going to do everything we can to push this basketball program to align with that

With that being said Thank you again you’re the best wouldn’t be here whoops wouldn’t be here without you and this may be the first time I’m actually in the same place as Brutus where my kids may put me number one over him so thank you guys I love you it’s an

Honor to serve you in this role I’m so excited about the future thank you for everyone being here thank you for the support thank you Jake and okay if tech support if we could turn on our wireless mics and we’re going to open up the Q&A

Session uh Jake if you don’t mind just taking a seat we’re going to start with uh Ross for a handful or two of questions and then we’ll uh then we’ll turn back to Jake so we’ll open up questioning today with Adam jardy from The Columbus Dispatch well Ross congratulations on

Your first hire here um thank you you you’ve talked throughout this process about head coaching experience being important and then you talked about all the things that that Jake met as you went through this process can you elaborate on all the other things that you think make up for the one thing that

Might be missing which is lack of head coaching experience yeah look I I think what we saw the last eight games has it been eight games and there’s another game where he subbed in I think when uh when coach was sick and so look either you have the wherewithal or you

Don’t are we good yeah we good that was not me screaming by by the way so to me you you have the wherewithal or you don’t and and actually if you break down the moves that were made during games he out coached coaches that have been doing this a long time strategy substitutions

Timeouts so as You observe that you say okay do you have that wherewithal clearly he has a Whisperer as his dad in his ear in sort of that born to coach mentality so as we looked at all the characteristics as we looked at where is this program at now

What’s what’s coming down the pathway in terms of the next couple classes here in the state of Ohio which are really deep in recruiting I sat down with uh folks that know recruiting in this landscape and to connect all the dots that he has there’s value in that there’s value in

That in terms of other people that would have to come in and learn that perhaps so we just thought look if we know where we’re going let’s pull the trigger he’s the real deal he knows how to live at the highest level of college basketball

He’s seen it in action so to me that made up for the lack of long-term head coaching experience because he just fits with where we are in this program right now Andy Anders 11 warriors uh yeah uh what what else about his broader Vision you talked about the on court side of it

You talked about the recruiting but obviously there’s a lot that goes into this in terms of transfer portal and staff construction what about those things in terms of his long-term vision for the program stood out to you to me that’s where as an assistant coach in

This modern era you know I think you actually take his age as an advantage the the relatability piece he recruited most of the guys or it was the lead recruiter on most of the guys on the roster he’s recruiting that next generation of guys that are you know

Considering Ohio State so to me you take all that whole package that he offers yeah he may maybe a certain age but either the wherewithal is there and the DNA is there and and what I think about Jake as I was going through my process

To become an ad he actually reminds me a lot of myself cuz he’s overprepared because he’s been dreaming about this for a long long time and I think I was 37 when I became an ad Jake how old are you 37 37 so very similar in terms of the

Preparation just because you’re not the head coach en title doesn’t mean you don’t have a organized plan doesn’t mean you don’t have a vision doesn’t mean you’re not establishing core values for when you might take over a job so he was equipped I think a little bit beyond

Maybe what you see on a resume Dan hope 11 Warriors Ross you talked about the standard here needs to go up in your mind what is the standard for Ohio State basketball I think we should be consistently in the ation for Big 10 championships and if you’re doing

That then you’re going to be in a postseason run where you have the wherewithal to go to the final four and cut down those Nets we we’ve been to final fours in recent history right and so we we have that in our DNA the way I

Described it to Adam when I talked to him last month was we have a blue blood type program right now we need to be consistent in maximizing those ingredients so to me those are the things that he can activate so whether it’s the recruiting piece whether it’s the resources whether it’s working with

The foundation and the 1870 Society on nil we have to maximize all those resources we need to sell more season tickets right we lowered ticket prices we’re getting ready to to launch all the season ticket renewals those things all have to be turned on and and this man

Right here has the leadership ability to activate all of those things so those are the ingredients that we have now we have to turn it on and so that’ll be the work that we have to do all of us in this department have to think of basketball at a higher level to achieve

What we want in terms of reaching that standard of uh cutting down Nets Andy Backstrom Letterman row Ross you said that you started this process in Texas when you were still on statical then you got here in Columbus what was what most impressed you I guess about Jake as a

Leader once you got here and you got the seat in action I saw it I saw it in that Purdue game and I thought he was actually going to play I think he was on the Court a couple times I think they told him to back off to me you just you

Saw the energy you saw the connectivity you saw that he was maybe going to open up the style of play a little bit more maybe there’s a little more freedom of of playability if you will that’s what players want to play in they want to

Play in a in a structured but yet open style to maximize their talent so you you saw all of those things and then when I came to the game on uh on March the 3D I saw the environment and what it’s capable of I saw the way we played

I mean we we hammered him in the second half I mean that was awesome to see right and so all of those elements just came together and then you have to sit down and talk so we met with Jake I don’t know two or three weeks ago uh

When I got here we met in person and then through conversations solidifying what that plan could be what he brings to the table what his blueprint could be for this program in terms of the program identity again it was it was the right decision for all of those reasons Pat

Murphy 24/7 Sports Ross similar to to kind of what you were just saying but when you have an interim coach you often see a bump how do you distinguish between the pressures off guys are playing free under a different guy verse sort of what you were just talking about

With Jake as the coach knowing that this will be a different situation come November next year well I think that’s what you have to test him on and that’s what the conversations were about right this isn’t just five weeks right this is okay this is a long-term vision and do

You have the plan are you prepared to make the right kind of adjustments that we need to make knowing that we have a a really good foundation but are you prepared to make those and that’s through conversation you you test that willpower that he has and

Again people are born to do this and there’s leadership there’s innate leadership abilities that you that you see manifest in conversations in interactions the way he carried himself in in the media he never he never made it about self-preservation that he’s doing everything to manipulate it to get the

Job he was doing everything what’s best for the program in this time so all of that comes with a maturity level where you know that this is sustainable and that that came through in the process Tim May the Tim May Show and Letterman row thanks Jerry uh Ross did it hit you

In Minneapolis when did it hit you that this was the mo I mean this was the right call this was your decision honestly and yeah Dan and I I don’t know the exact date I guess I got here on March 2nd I’m trying to think

What date we first uh sat down and met with Jake honestly I walked out of the room and I said this guy could do the job there is no question that he could do the job he’s got the ability he’s got the leadership skills he’s got the connectivity and then as I really

Resarch more the recruiting pieces of it the leadership pieces of it spending more time with him I’m watching him in person I went to a practice last week you see how that’s organized you see that energy again you kind of know it when you see it and so that piece of it

Really came together over the last couple weeks and then I told everybody that I talked to about this that this is a key weekend selection Sunday transfer portal even even though it’s been open here on our campus for for a while the transfer portal starts today we wanted

To make a postseason run run but I knew that you had to have some kind of clarity going into this weekend and going into this week there’s a lot of jobs open right and so if we honed in on the right person let’s just pull the trigger and let’s make it happen and

Let’s provide the clarity for our roster let’s provide Clarity in recruiting let’s provide Clarity in the transfer world that this is our guy and let’s go and tomorrow night we tip off at 7 o’cl under his leadership permanently Rob Aller Columbus Dispatch he said uh he kind of has a lot of

Intangibles and players have said he’s got the it factor maybe you already spoke to this but what do you what do you see as an IT factor in him honestly it it’s really the moment that we had like in the kitchen living room at the debler house like it is about

Family values it is about faith it is about togetherness if you have those characteristics in your home life that’s going to carry over to your professional life and then you see the way he connects with our current players with our former players the way he connects with our

Donors all of those things just stand out in a meaningful way that it’s not it’s not fake one of the one of the things I’ve learned in the last couple weeks is there’s not pretense here at Ohio State and if anybody signifies that it’s Jake debler so that’s just real and

Genuine and and to me that carries over to whatever realm we’re going to be in whether it’s recruiting whether it’s interacting with the public whether it’s out campaigning for season tickets or donations it’s the personality that matters and and leadership ability is leadership ability really I I look he’s done it for the

Eight games eight or nine games as the head coach but now you’re moving over people talk about ambass you’re moving over the 18 Ines and it’s such a big difference so what our job to will be is to help him help him understand the magnitude of that this is a big place

It’s a massive place I called it a public trust when I got introduced right so that that’s a big deal that comes with the sture of that and so having the ability to handle that until you’re in it but again he’s going to go back to

His faith he’s going to go back to support that he has from his family we’re going to have to help him through that so that’s really the growth that all of us go through as Leaders until you’re in it it’s hard to really know what it looks like and that’s where all

The support will uh will come into play got two more questions for Ross uh first Spencer Holbrook let him in row Ross uh correct me if I’m wrong but you’re you’re hiring track record doesn’t truly suggest like hiring from within does it make it a little easier to hire with

From within when you can put nil backing and other resources that maybe weren’t available in college athletics four or five years ago now you can put those behind a guy and and help him as he learns how to be a head coach for the first time you you always do what’s best

For the institution and so you go on information that you have so whatever whatever you’re alluding to I’m not quite sure but you go with the best information at the time you have it Jake debler is the right guy no matter if he’s promoted within down the hallway or

We hired him from another program support matters in modern-day College athletics so what we’ve said here is that we embrace all of it from buying a t-shirt to raising dollars for capital projects to nil to the working with the foundation all of that matters so embracing that he’s already been doing

That since he’s been back here and so to me that’s a piece of the puzzle but it comes down to leadership and that’s what Jake possesses and final question for Ross uh Steven means cleveland.com you kind of mentioned already the recruiting aspect that he’s recruited most of the

Guys on his roster he’s from here he’s got a brother who’s played it seemed like some of the other options reportedly were outside hires but maybe with outside hires you’re maybe starting from scratch especially in this world how much did that matter when you decide

To go with Jake in a situation where it doesn’t seem like because of all his other elements he’s not necessarily starting from scratch even if he’s yeah he again the profile the characteristics was was he matching all of those the answer was yes the added bonus of this is the

Timing he’s already been hitting the ground running from a recruiting standpoint he’s already got those built-in relationships so the added bonus where he has a head start that was an attractive piece of it but he had to fit the other things first if he didn’t match the other characteristics and you

Only went with that was that sustainable the leadership and the wherewithal has to be SU sustainable and so that was the first thing this piece right here that’s where you can really flip it quickly and that’s where you can get back to the standard that we expect

And so that that’s the added bonus of having those ties to the state of Ohio and his legacy here in this state Ross thank you very much thank you Jake we’ll open up uh is that Tim May the who’s got it uh Spencer H Brook let himman row

Jake how do you build on eight games of success but now being in the lead role and having to do things as as the permanent head coach how do you build on that and build on the continuity that you’ve now started while also understanding that you’re a new head

Coach for a reason that um you know the previous head coach isn’t here anymore and so you have to kind of make this into your own how do you balance those two things as you start this New Journey timing is going to be important it’s still about serving our players as best

As I possibly can and serving the this program as best as I possibly can that’s what it was about when Gan and I met and that’s what it’s going to be about moving forward the timing of making more changes and more adjustments and that will that will come that will be here

You know really right around the corner but we need to finish this season well first the focus is serving these guys all the way through and then we’ll we’ll turn to being able to make some of those more significant changes that we we it didn’t make sense to do and give us the

Best chance was best for our guys when uh when the change happened Joe newon WC congrats Jake what uh what do you think the challenges will be like leading the team year after year after year versus doing it for eight games in an interm role well thank you yeah first off I I

It’s hard to speak on something that I haven’t experienced yet but I will say this what what drives me is to serve this program and and as best as I possibly can that’s not going to change it’s not going to change once we are able to win a championship it’s not

Going to change when we go through adversity it’s not going to be different you know 5 years from now or however much longer I’m able to serve so why I do it what motivates me my Foundation is set that’s my faith and my family but

Why I do it like our former players are always going to be be here that’s motivation for me so time will change things certainly but the motivation behind how we’re going to take this program to where it belongs will not Dylan Davis Delaware Gazette not been shy about talking about your faith

Through all this um through a lot of uncertainty for you and your family what does that Faith meant to you through all this leading you to this point now everything it means everything I was asked dur during this process how will you handle everything that goes with you know being the head

Coach at Ohio State and my Foundation is my faith that’s what I I will always go back to that’s what will always keep me Steady that’s and I got into coaching because the most influential people in my life were coaches they helped me grow spiritually

They helped me grow as a man as a future husband and father so why I got into coaching was to have that same impact on guys I didn’t go to college to be a coach I saw my dad do it he was unbelievable at it I had these Grand

Visions of owning my own business and things like that but coaches are the ones that changed my life I still believe in the influence that coaches can have on on young men and particularly this age because that’s when my life was changed that’s when my faith Journey

Started so that’s how important it is to me it’s why I do what I do and it’s make no mistake I believe I’m here today because this is where God wants me to be so I will continue to be open about what you know how important that

Is to me thank you for your question though David Briggs Toledo Blade J going back to the influences on your life your dad of course is a successful long High School coach what did what did your dad mean in this journey and and what does it also mean to represent Northwest Ohio

On this stage I very much appreciate that question I take a great deal of pride in being from Northwest Ohio and if you know our family background we moved around a little bit so when people ask me where I’m from I tell them I’m from the

419 I take a great yes I take a great deal of pride in that and if you look it that’s no offense to some former players who aren’t from there but if you look at the history of this program there are some un like the the record books are

Filled with people from that area so probably should move on CU I could go all day about that but my dad’s been been so influential in my life I those of you who’ve seen him Coach can probably see that how I coach is a reflection of how he coached and he

Taught me at a very early age how you know how important passion was both when you’re correcting but but in an encouraging way too and celebrating good things that happened and his influence on me was is it’s it’s huge him being around these this last month has been

Has been critical for me and and and the way he supported me so I can’t look at you or I’m going to get emotional um it just it this means everything for our family to be able to be here and him him be here today Rob berer Columbus Dispatch and Rob when

You’re done can you put it over your left shoulder for Katie thank you Rober your life could have taken a lot of different paths you said maybe you were going to start your own business do you remember the moment you flipped the switch and what prompted that to go into

Coaching was there a moment or was it a gradual thing it was a more gradual thing my freshman season didn’t go the way that I invisioned it was going to go which a lot of guys deal with that right and I vividly remember picking up the

Phone and calling my dad and saying dad I got a transfer Homer Drew doesn’t like me and if you know Homer Drew he’s like the nicest human on the planet and my dad and Les word said don’t ever call me again you gave him your word like treat

Practice like your game and in that moment I changed my mentality in college and I went from not playing really at all to being voted by the by our team as a captain my sophomore year and that sparked a leadership quality that I I think I really embraced and I enjoyed

And I I valued and again that influence of the Drew family and the staff at Valpo and how I saw my dad’s ability to impact people I wanted to impact people in a positive way coaching seemed like just a great vessel for that so over that period of time in college was when

I realized that this is what I’m called to do Katie kusta Spectrum one hey J congratulations again you talk talked about being from Northwest Ohio you had quite a prolific High School career as well and some memories here in this building a little bit about how that

Success has led you here today yeah to this day and we’re going to have to we got to build this to where we can we can surpass this but the my greatest memory in basketball is being on this court winning a state championship with my dad

Coaching and my brother on the team I’ve yet to be able to accomplish or achieve anything that has surpassed that perhaps we can do that here but um this Arena has meant a lot to me I met my wife here we got engaged here we uh you know this

There’s been so many moments on this court and it’s just part of this the the list of things of why we care so much about this program but yeah that that that moment I I hope every kid I wish every kid could experience that every high school kid I love the state

Tournament it’s the absolute best Ohio high school basketball is special there’s great coaches in this state it’s critical the relationship between our program and the state is is really important we have to continue to raise that because we want we want guys from the state to be a part of our program

Doesn’t have to exclusively be there’s been a lot of great players go through here who aren’t from Ohio but we could spend all day talking about the list of guys and some of them are here who are from the state and I just believe when you put on an Ohio State

Jersey and you are from the state of Ohio it’s almost like getting a just an extra 2 3% guys in this program they’ve always given everything they have but when you’re from this state and you put that Jersey on you get an extra couple percent like unlocks maybe a little bit

Extra ability so um yeah that was my best memory I’ll forever cherish that but this court this court and this building meant a lot to us couple more questions folks Adam JY Columbus Dispatch so you after the game on Friday night you said you hope to come home get

A little bit of rest and kind of figure out what was going to what were those next 24 hours like for you how did Saturday unfold and and when did you realize that this was all real yeah thanks to Ross I didn’t get any more

Rest in fact it went the other way um you know we didn’t know our postseason right what what that was going to look like so my mind was kind of still wrapped around that a lot and wrapped around just how we could could serve our

Players when I got a chance to meet with Ross and just how that you know kind of unfolded um yeah I was I was a little anxious I was a little U there were just a lot of different emotions going on and when this when he came over to our house

And this really became real that was almost exhausting in itself because it just there was just an abundance of just joy and and happiness and we’re calling our parents and it was it was it was special but no it’s it was a wild uh emotionally a wild you wild

Day and we’ll wrap things up with Tony German Buckeye huddle Jake in Ohio um what is your philosophy on building the roster via School recruiting versus the portal I think balance is important I think balance is important at Ohio State like we’re able to recruit talented high school players and we need

To continue to do that but we also need to utilize kind of all the resources available to build the best roster possible so that that balance will be important that’ll that’ll change to some degree year to year but we’re going to continue to view through the lens of

What best sets us up to achieve our our goals and high school recruiting is really really important in that so’s transfer uh portal is important in that and then roster retention is probably the great of greatest importance right now yeah listen our Focus still we still got something to

Play for so our Focus as a as a program has been on that but conversations have been started we got to serve these guys well and see this season through but as you guys have seen there’s some great there are great players in this program right

Now and there are great players in this program who care a lot about Ohio State they showed that that was revealed by the way they played and finished the season so we’ll we’ll certainly lean into that Embrace that and those conversations will happen as soon as the season’s over great gentlemen thank you

Very much media we’ll try to do a couple group huddles uh just behind us here get you guys a few more questions and everyone else thank you so much for coming gentlemen congratulations than for being here

We had a chance to get the formal introduction of Jake Diebler as Ohio State head basketball coach. He had been in front of the program for the past eight games and led the Buckeyes to a 6-2 record.
Many thought that Ohio State would go out of house or look for a splashy hire but incoming AD Ross Bjork explained why Diebler was the right man.
Check out the full presser from the floor of The Schott as we learn more about Diebler, his Ohio roots and so much more.

Check out BuckeyeHuddle.com to get all of the best Ohio State Buckeyes coverage. Our team of contributors will have you up-to-the-minute with recruiting, team coverage and so much more. Join the fastest growing community in all of BuckeyeNation at BuckeyeHuddle.com

Join Now: https://buckeyehuddle.com/community/account/upgrades/

🏈👕SHOP Ohio State gear on Fanatics: http://fanatics.93n6tx.net/WDk33J

Get Ohio State stuff on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3T51uJ2

🎤Podcasting equipment: https://amzn.to/3TEN9Dk
🎙Podcasting mics: https://amzn.to/3Tyz8Hk
🎥Video equipment: https://amzn.to/3TGM0Lt