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In performance review, Ohio State AD Bjork said Jake Diebler met expectations in 1st year
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- In performance review, Ohio State AD Bjork said Jake Diebler met expectations in 1st year
Ohio State men's basketball coach Jake Diebler was judged to have met expectations by athletic director Ross Bjork in his annual performance review.
The review, which was provided to The Dispatch via an open records request, recognizes the situation in which Diebler inherited the program and states that Ohio State "will support (Diebler) with all the tools to compete as we move forward," Bjork wrote.
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"Coach Diebler continues to provide great leadership and energy for our basketball program while continuing to learn and grow in his role as a head coach," Bjork wrote. "We all understand what he inherited and have worked with Coach on making sure we have the right resources and support to get our program back in contention for (Big Ten) titles and long runs in the NCAA tournament. Coach Diebler has put together the right staff for success and all of the investments will continue to pay off in recruiting, style of play, and success on the court.
"Focusing on high level recruiting, player development, roster retention, revenue share cap management, academic success, and having good young men in the program, will be the keys to success. As Coach continue grows in his role and adapts to the evolution of college athletics, he will continue to garner all the necessary attributes of being a great head coach and what it takes to compete at this level."
Hired before the 2024-25 season, Diebler previously took over as interim coach when former athletic director Gene Smith fired Chris Holtmann on Feb. 14, 2024. Diebler took over as interim coach and led the Buckeyes to an 8-3 finish and a run to the quarterfinals of the NIT while earning the full-time job from Bjork, who was in the process of replacing the retiring Smith.
Mar 18, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Incoming Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork introduces new basketball head coach Jake Diebler during an introductory press conference at Value City Arena.
Ohio State finished 17-15 overall, 9-11 in the Big Ten and missed the NCAA Tournament in Diebler's first year . The Buckeyes have not played in March Madness since 2022.
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"It was important for us to take a step forward in year one of our program and we did," Diebler wrote in his portion of the review. "This year provided growth for me and our program as we navigated a great deal of adversity throughout. Improvements in offensive and defensive efficiency, pace of play, and NET rankings were achieved and position us to be better next season in a significant way. We were able to set the foundational culture this year in a way that provides a pathway for a real jump in years to come. That same culture and this staff, were the reasons we positioned ourselves at the end of the year to receive an at0large bid to the NCAA tournament. Disappointed we did not reach that goal, but we were able to have a great off-season regarding roster management and player development.
More: Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork: Jake Diebler, Buckeyes ready to build on lessons
"Retention was critical moving forward and was a huge success for our program this spring. That same culture also helped our program achieve one of the best GPA's in recent program memory with a cumulative score of 3.23. My commitment and our program's commitment to return Ohio State Basketball to the level of our tradition's peak remains the mission. Year one was a positive step but we still have work to do."
A rating of "meets expectations" is described as one that "most employees can expect to receive" and notes that "we are an organization of high expectations and this rating should be celebrated."
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Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @ cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @ AdamJardy .
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jake Diebler met expectations in year one, Ohio State's Ross Bjork says
