Jake Diebler’s short career as head coach at Ohio State has been up and down, and many wonder if he’s the right man for the job.

Anyone who has been around or been a fan of Ohio State athletics in the past two decades is certainly familiar with the Diebler name. From 2007-11, the sharpshooting Jon Diebler assaulted the nylon from behind the arc, setting both the single-season and career school records for 3-pts made, attempted, and percentage. He also holds the single-season Big Ten record for 3-point percentage, making Jon one of the most electrifying players to have donned the Scarlet and Gray.

Of course, the Buckeye lineage does not end there for the Diebler family. Jake Diebler, Jon’s older brother, has famously worked his way up from Video Coordinator (2013-16) to the Head Coach of Ohio State men’s basketball since 2024. Jake had coaching stints as an assistant at both Vanderbilt and Valparaiso, where he played from 2005-09. However, once he became an assistant under Chris Holtmann in Columbus, his passion and coaching prowess were clearly recognized by both fans and fellow coaches. As a result, by the end of Holtmann’s tenure at Ohio State, Jake Diebler became a hot name when it came to filling the potential head coaching vacancy.

By February 14, 2024, Jake Diebler was named the interim head coach of the Buckeyes and finished the regular season 5-1, including a win over No. 2 Purdue. This was followed by a win over Iowa in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. On March 17 of that same year, Diebler was officially named the head coach of Ohio State men’s basketball, two days before the start of the NIT, in which OSU was selected as a 2-seed. The Buckeyes picked up two more wins over Cornell and Virginia Tech in the NIT, making Diebler 8-3 in 2024 as head coach. In his first full season in 2025, Diebler’s Buckeyes would take a step back, however, finishing 17-15 (9-11) and missing out on the postseason altogether.

At the time of this article, Ohio State is 17-10 (9-7) and sits squarely on the tournament bubble. There is no denying that this year’s team has had a slew of opportunities slip through their fingers, currently relying on past wins over Wisconsin and Northwestern to secure their elusive first Quad-1 win(s) of the season. However, with four games remaining and two (potentially three) of them being Quad-1 opportunities, Ohio State still has a path to building a tournament-worthy resume before the Big Ten tournament.

With that being said, there is little to no evidence that Diebler and his team will be able to reel off the wins necessary to do so. As it stands, the team and program are not meeting the expectations of fans or the administration, as Ohio State’s AD Ross Bjork has stated that participation in the NCAA tournament should be “the standard” for the program. In my opinion, there are a couple of caveats to this, and neither shifts the blame to Jake Diebler, especially this year. With less than two full seasons of injury to his belt and the landscape of college sports shifting on a monumental scale, I don’t see how Diebler could shoulder even a majority of the blame as it stands today.

Firstly, the financial commitment from OSU’s in-house NIL is not enough. According to ON3’s NIL valuations, Ohio State has just two players in the top 100 regarding compensation. Four-year Senior captain Bruce Thornton sits at just no. 42 on that list, followed by Gabe Cupps at 97. Compare that to a conference rival like Michigan, which has five players on that same list, with former Buckeye Roddy Gayle Jr even joining the Wolverines. Or Arizona, which has six players.

Those two teams have also alternated between No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings for the majority of the season. Yes- these are perhaps the two most extreme examples when it comes to NIL, but it also shows a direct correlation between the teams that spend the most, and the teams that win the most. In today’s college athletics landscape, this is just a stark reality.

Secondly, and certainly related to NIL, is the issue of depth and injuries on this year’s edition of the Buckeyes. Injuries are a part of the game, no matter what, particularly in late February. However, it has been an ongoing issue for OSU this season, stemming from the loss of standout Forward Brandon Noel, who has not been active since January 5 against Nebraska.

Between this, Puff Johnson’s delayed eligibility/injuries, John Mobley Jr’s hand injury, and, most recently, Devin Royal missing the MSU game due to illness, the Buckeyes have had to reach deep into their bench for consistent production and big minutes. Something that is never ideal, but when hands were tied financially and the staff had to take chances on a guy like a Gabe Cupps, who to this point hasn’t panned out like I’m sure they had hoped, it puts Diebler and the staff in a tremendously tough position when compared the financial backing and deeper rosters that Ohio State has gone up against in a conference like the Big Ten.

The programs that are financially committed not only have the depth to lean on but also rely far less on such small rotations, thus improving the overall health of their most important players. Again, you can look at a team like Michigan and see that they pride themselves on being able to beat teams in a multitude of ways, because Dusty May has a multitude of healthy and productive players at his disposal at any given moment. Come tournament time, this will undoubtedly be an invaluable asset to the Wolverines.

When analyzing the job Jake Diebler has done, it is paramount to consider the surrounding factors that have culminated in the situation Ohio State finds itself in today. Could Diebler have hit on a better transfer? Could he have been better down the stretch in a game or two this year? Those are absolutely fair questions to ask. However, at this point in his tenure, seeing the way he resonates with his players year after year, and his deep knowledge of the program itself, Jake Diebler still appears to be the man for the job, and someone who has the chops to build back Buckeye hoops with the appropriate support and resources.