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Why did Ohio State's men's basketball players have to earn their jerseys for this season?
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- Why did Ohio State's men's basketball players have to earn their jerseys for this season?
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Half of Ohio State's roster has never played for the Buckeyes before. This year's 16-man men's basketball roster features eight newcomers and nine players who were not with Ohio State last year.
It presented first-year coach Jake Diebler with a dilemma. As a native Ohioan whose brother played for the Buckeyes , Diebler wanted to impress upon these Buckeyes that playing for Ohio State should mean something extra. Believing the opportunity to be a privilege and not a right, Diebler attached some extra meaning by taking something away.
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Look at photos of the Buckeyes during their summer workouts , and the color scarlet is noticeably absent. So is any form of Ohio State's logo. The Buckeyes were college basketball's men in black, and there was a reason behind that.
"We had to establish right away (that) whether you'd been here or you were coming in from a different program, there was going to be a certain standard of work that had to be met," Diebler said . "Our guys had to earn the right to wear this logo that so many players have worn before and worn it so well."
Jul 9, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Micah Parrish gets a high five from guard Bruce Thornton during a summer workout in the practice gym at the Schottenstein Center.
When Diebler was hired in March, the signage used to promote the news centered on his ties to the state. Ohio State's introductory statement led its fourth paragraph by noting that Diebler was the first Ohioan to be named coach in 35 years, and from his first press conference as interim coach Diebler has described his primary focus as serving the program and its players – past and present – as best he can.
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Representing Ohio State matters to Diebler, and that made this summer his first opportunity to impress that upon his first team.
"I felt like we had to establish, there's a very rich tradition in this program," he said. "It's one of the better traditions in the history of college basketball."
Feeling that way and getting his players to buy in are two different things. But according to Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson Jr., the move had Diebler's desired effect almost immediately.
"You've got to earn your stripes," Thornton said. "It put a chip on your shoulder because you didn't want to wear the all-black workout clothes every single day. I know I got tired of it, so I tried to do everything I could to get out of those clothes."
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Doing so required consistently meeting certain requirements put forth by the coaching staff. Diebler ticked off a list of criteria that included a high level of work that had to be met, embracing what the coach wants the program to be about, fighting through hard days, having a growth mindset and maintaining a high level of communication with both coaches and teammates. Consistency, above all, was prized.
The coaching staff evaluated which players were worthy of wearing scarlet once again. A key vote in the process came from recruiting director and former team captain Terence Dials.
"Terence Dials played a big role in this for us because he had won a Big Ten championship at Ohio State and knew what it looked like and felt like," Diebler said.
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According to Johnson and Thornton, the two veteran guards were the first ones to shed the black gear – and Thornton went first.
"Then I was the second person to get it done (and) it was a trend," Johnson said. "Everybody was like, 'I've got to make stuff happen. I've got to talk more. I've got to dive and get loose balls.' Whatever it was. It made you feel like, I'm getting into the family. "
As more players earned the right to wear scarlet again, Diebler said the coaches began including players in the conversations regarding which Buckeyes could be next. By the time the Buckeyes reported for fall practice , each member of the roster had earned the right to wear scarlet once again.
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"Me and Meechie being leaders, that would help other teammates get out of those clothes," Thornton said. "It's just a goal to not wear that. You're trying to wear that Block ('O') on your chest because it means more than just the teams. It's a lifestyle."
And maybe a bit of a fashion statement.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How did Ohio State's players earn their jerseys from Jake Diebler?
