Story by
Time to work: 'Pretty healthy' Ohio State hoops gets preseason underway under Jake Diebler
- Story by
- Time to work: 'Pretty healthy' Ohio State hoops gets preseason underway under Jake Diebler
The first day of practice is nothing new for Jake Diebler . The son of an Ohio high school basketball coach who spent nearly 50 years leading programs across the state , the start of hoops season is as customary for him as the changing of the seasons or the rising of the sun.
This one, though, is different. After turning an in-season temporary promotion into his first head coaching job, Diebler has spent the past six months preparing for a day like Monday. Truthfully, he's probably spent even more time than that as he's eyed the opportunity to one day lead a program.
Advertisement
Monday was that day. One moment after 2:30 p.m., Diebler hustled from an interview session to the main court at the Schottenstein Center and stepped into his first official fall practice as the Ohio State men's basketball coach.
"Probably months ago I was thinking about it, then we've had so much going on I wasn't thinking about it a whole lot," Diebler said of getting started. "Then this past probably 72 hours really, just going back, checking notes, making sure we're covering everything we need to."
The 2024-25 Ohio State men's basketball team huddles for the final time before officially starting fall practice.
Dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt with an Ohio State logo and scarlet Nike swoosh, Diebler was clearly ready to get things going. The Buckeyes began practice exactly seven weeks before their season-opening game against Texas in Las Vegas, and a rebuilt roster and revamped coaching staff has plenty to figure out.
Advertisement
Ohio State has 16 players on its roster, seven of whom were on last year's roster . Diebler's five-man coaching staff is all new as well. That group of 22 Buckeyes is more than two-thirds new to the program, and it puts a premium on figuring out who can do what and with whom as quickly as possible. Diebler termed this portion of the calendar as phase two of the preseason, which is all about growth.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
"We laid a good foundation about playing the way we want to play and now we've got to get detailed and start to really get better at some things leading into phase three, which will be some specific prep for some of our exhibition games and the first game Nov. 4," he said. "We had some guys that had an expectation as to what practice would look like. It's pretty new for everybody, but the guys who did return at least have a feel for what the expectations are from a pace and urgency standpoint in practice."
The Buckeyes begin the season "pretty healthy," Diebler said. Sophomore guard Taison Chatman will miss the season with a torn ACL but the other 15 players were on the court going through the early-practice drills open to media for the first half-hour of practice. Several players missed parts of summer workouts, and not everyone was expected to be available for the entirety of the first practice.
Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson Jr. dribbles the ball during a drill during the first official day of practice.
Sean Stewart, Meechie Johnson and Devin Royal are three Buckeyes who have missed some time during the summer and fall.
Advertisement
"Some guys are still getting back to full-go, but we're pretty close," Diebler said, declining to specify which players would be limited Monday.
Chatman was seen walking without a limp or brace, and Diebler said he's progressing well from his surgery but has a long road to recovery ahead of him.
Similarly, it will be a while before the outside world will get a view of what these Buckeyes will look like. Ohio State will play a charity exhibition game at Cincinnati on Oct. 18 , the only announced public tune-up before playing the Longhorns.
The immediate to-do list revolves around adding to the base of knowledge Diebler said the Buckeyes began building during the summer and early fall. A key ingredient to that: although nine players are new to the program, seven Buckeyes are in at least their third seasons of college basketball. This team's ability to pick up on concepts and translate them to game action quickly has been impressive so far, Diebler said.
Advertisement
"It speaks to some of the veterans that we have but also I think the overall basketball IQ on our team," he said. "I'm excited to see now that we're going to have more time, we can throw a little bit more at them from the standpoint of adding things that we need that are going to be important. I'm hoping to see, as we add stuff, that to continue to translate quickly."
After so much waiting, it's time to get to work.
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State officially gets 2024-25 underway with first practice
