The ability to be a multi-purpose facility was being put to the test at Value City Arena on Monday morning.
Center court was covered by a black stage backed by scarlet, black and white drapes centered by one podium and two chairs. On either side, workers laid down thick, heavy white tape to mark off the wider lane that will be utilized in Tuesday night's men's basketball NIT game against Cornell . Friday, the Ohio State women's team will host a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
In anticipation of all of this, brand-new nets were being installed at either end of the court roughly an hour before the court was packed and the stands dotted with fans on hand for the public unveiling of Jake Diebler as the new Ohio State men's basketball coach . No longer the interim leader, the 37-year-old Diebler was hired Saturday and formally announced Sunday with a five-year contract worth $2.5 million annually .
Incoming athletic director Ross Bjork, the man who ran the search to replace Chris Holtmann and elevated Diebler from interim to head coach, said the internal promotion had everything to do with those new, white nets hanging from the rims and little to do with the distance between Diebler's former and current offices.
"It may be easy to say that we just walked down the hallway," Bjork said. "We pressed Jake on what it takes to build championships, what it takes to make changes as the leader in the program. We have a program that's ready to excel, that's ready to take flight and with the right kind of adjustments we know we can cut down nets and raise the ladders we expect. Every time we checked the values, the beacon was Jake.
"It's time to bring out those ladders. It's time to bring out those scissors."
Ohio State hasn't cut down nets in more than a decade. The Buckeyes last won the Big Ten Tournament in 2013 and last captured a regular-season title in 2012. That was two coaches and more than a decade ago for a program that's been close, on occasion, but still holding the second-longest championship drought in Ohio State history since winning the 1925 Big Ten title.
Diebler, now in his fifth year in his second stint with the program, has his shot to change that.
"What drives me is to serve this program as best as I possibly can," he said. "That's not going to change. That's not going to change once we're able to win a championship. That's not going to change when we go through adversity. That's not going to change five years from now or however much longer I'm able to serve."
In each corner of Value City Arena, the upper-bowl scoreboards carried the slogan, 'BORN A BUCKEYE, STAYS A BUCKEYE." The first native Ohioan to become the Ohio State men's basketball coach since Randy Ayers in 1989, Diebler is the son of a longtime prep coach who has amassed more than 400 wins. Some of Keith Diebler's former players have stories of changing young Jake's diapers as he crawled around the gym while his dad coached, and to this day Jake Diebler said winning a state title on the Value City Arena court with his dad coaching and younger brother Jon playing remains his greatest basketball moment.
To this point, at least.
"This arena has meant a lot to me," he said. "I met my wife here. We got engaged here. There's been so many moments on this court. It's just part of the list of things of why we care so much about this program. That (championship) moment, I wish every high school kid could experience that."
Although Jon Diebler was in practice at Butler as a member of Thad Matta's coaching staff, the rest of the extended Diebler family was there occupying about a third of the seats on the court. Another section was reserved for more than a dozen former players in attendance, from Brad Sellers to Dennis Hopson to Michael Redd to George Reese. Football coach Ryan Day, who was promoted to head coach without prior experience in the head chair, was there, too.
When Diebler was publicly introduced and walked out under the lights, he passed a line of cheerleaders dancing as the band played the Ohio State fight song. Before reaching the stage, he stopped in front of a section full of former Ohio State players and hugged Jason Singleton before climbing the steps to embrace Bjork.
It led him to another platform in his career and one that comes with accordingly elevated expectations. Like Smith has said repeatedly in recent years, Bjork said his expectation is that Ohio State men's basketball will consistently compete near the top of the Big Ten. With that, the Buckeyes should be in position to do more.
In Diebler, Bjork said they have the leader to get them there.
"This guy right here's the real deal," he said. "Period. He has wherewithal beyond the years of experience. It's easy because he's right down the hallway. No, it wasn't about that. Every time we checked our profile with the values of Ohio State, it just led to this guy. This to me is a no-brainer decision. To me, we're going to end up in a place where people are proud every single day because of how he represents himself and how we look on the court."
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That starts Tuesday night when the Buckeyes play against the Big Red with hopes of a deep run through the tournament. The last time Ohio State won the NIT, Matta told his players that he hadn't come to the program to not play in March Madness, and the trophy has not been seen since that day in 2008.
It's Diebler's turn to try and get Ohio State to where it is expected to be.
"Ohio State is a special place," Diebler said. "It's my dream job. Ohio State is the best of the best and we're going to do everything we can to align this basketball program with that."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ross Bjork says Ohio State needs to cut down nets with Jake Diebler
