Ohio State has dipped into its past to bolster its future.
The Buckeyes are hiring Dave Dickerson to join new head coach Jake Diebler's staff. Dickerson has been the head coach at USC Upstate the past six seasons after having spent seven seasons at Ohio State, first as an assistant and then as the associate head coach under Thad Matta from 2010-17. OSU made the 2012 Final Four, the 2013 Elite Eight and the 2010 and 2011 Sweet 16s with Dickerson on staff.
"Dave Dickerson is a respected, veteran coach and I am excited that he is rejoining the Ohio State family," Diebler said in a statement. "He was not only a part of some of the most successful teams in Ohio State history, but he also brings head coaching experience that will be invaluable as we continue to take the next step as a program."
Diebler is in the process of filling out his coaching staff for next season, and Dickerson is his first hire.
Overall, Dickerson has more than 20 years of coaching experience including tenures at both Tulane and USC Upstate as a head coach. While at Tulane, Dickerson helped oversee a Green Wave program that was decimated by Hurricane Katrina and went 68-84 overall and 31-47 in Conference USA.
He then joined Matta's staff in 2010 and was associate head coach for his final six years with the Buckeyes. While on staff, he coached Jon Diebler, Jake's younger brother and now director of recruiting at Butler.
Dickerson was not retained when Matta was fired and accepted the USC Upstate job in 2019, where he went 63-117 in the Big South Conference.
He was a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award while leading the Spartans to the 2021-22 Big South Team Sportsmanship award. Dickerson was the AFLAC Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003, the ACC's No. 1 Assistant Coach as named by Basketball News (2003-04) and Athlon Sports' No. 4 Assistant Coach in the nation (2003-04) all while at Maryland.
Dickerson has been an assistant at Gardner-Webb, James Madison, Radford and Maryland in addition to his time with Ohio State, Tulane and USC Upstate.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State is hiring former associate coach Dave Dickerson
