Ohio State Men's CBB Hires Jake Diebler as HC After Going 6-2 as Interim Coach

Ohio State men's basketball has hired interim head coach Jake Diebler to be its next full-time head coach, the team announced Sunday.

"Throughout the search, every time we analyzed what was best for the program, our decision kept leading right back to Jake," Senior Advisor for Intercollegiate Athletics Ross Bjork said in a statement. "The way he has led the program since February 14 has been exemplary and is only the beginning of what lies ahead for Buckeye Basketball. The future is exciting, and I cannot wait to watch him lead this program."

Stadium's Jeff Goodman and The Columbus Dispatch's Adam Jardy first reported the team was targeting Diebler for the permanent role.

Diebler has been on the Buckeyes' staff for five seasons, serving as associate head coach to Chris Holtmann for the last three seasons. He was named interim coach after Holtmann was fired on Feb. 14 following a 14-11 start to the season and a 4-10 start to conference play.

After Diebler took over, Ohio State won five of its final six games to close out the season. The Buckeyes will likely still fall short of an NCAA Tournament bid after losing to Illinois in the Big Ten tournament on Friday.

Diebler's run as Ohio State's interim head coach began with a statement win over Purdue on Feb. 18. From there, the Buckeyes' only regular-season loss the rest of the way came to Minnesota.

The late push wasn't enough for an NCAA tournament bid, but the Buckeyes season can continue if Ohio State pursues an NIT bid. Jardy noted that Ohio State would need to have enough players to field a roster should it reach the NIT, and with the transfer portal opening on Monday, that isn't a guarantee.

According to Jardy, Ohio State eyed a number of big-name coaching candidates. The Buckeyes considered Florida Atlantic's Dusty May, Xavier's Sean Miller, Alabama's Nate Oats, Creighton's Greg McDermott and South Carolina's Lamont Paris.

Ultimately, Ohio State is settling on an in-house candidate—one who excelled in his position over the last month.