Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork had high praise for men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler on Thursday during his press conference at the Jack Nicklaus Museum in Columbus.
In his hour-long meeting with the media, Bjork said Diebler has maximized the resources provided to the program, crediting Ohio State’s increased institutional investment and revenue-sharing support for helping the Buckeyes build a stronger men’s basketball roster and remain competitive in the evolving landscape of college basketball.
“I think coach Diebler’s done a great job of putting together the right coaching staff, which then leads to the right roster building and development,” Bjork said. “By all accounts, we’re sitting here on June 25. We should be a lot better next year. I think the pieces that were added, the pieces that were retained. That was a big part of it…retaining the right guys.”
In Diebler’s second full season as head coach, the Buckeyes improved from 17-15 to 21-13, while leading Ohio State to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2021-22.
Ahead of the 2026-27 season, Diebler made multiple additions to Ohio State’s coaching staff. He brought in assistant coach Mike Wells, strength and conditioning coach Dave Richardson, and former Buckeye great William Buford — who sits tied for fourth with Jerry Lucas on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list with 1,990 career points — as a program assistant.
The roster also saw a massive overhaul. Ohio State retained two starters in guard John Mobley Jr. and forward Amare Bynum, alongside key contributors like center Ivan Njegovan and forward Josh Ojianwuna. Diebler also dipped into the transfer portal to bring in guards Justin Pippen (Cal), Jimmie Williams Sr. (Duquesne), Curtis Givens III (Memphis), as well as forward Andrijha Jelavić (Kentucky).
Bjork also pointed to Diebler’s dominance on the recruiting track as further evidence of the program’s upward momentum, highlighted by Ohio State’s signing of Hudson (Ohio) Western Reserve Academy five-star freshman forward Anthony Thompson, one of the Buckeyes’ two five-star recruits in the class of 2026.
“Obviously, signing somebody like Anthony Thompson was a big deal. That hasn’t happened around here in a while. So I think Jake’s done a great job, and if we’ve done a great job there, that means the resources are there to compete at a high level.”
Ohio State will have a larger revenue-sharing pool to distribute in the second year of the model, with the allowable amount increasing from $18 million to $21.3 million. The Buckeyes plan to direct those funds toward football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.
While there isn’t readily available public data detailing exactly how much Ohio State is allocating to its men’s basketball and other athletics programs, Bjork said the university noted that the department has shifted more resources toward men’s basketball as the financial model has evolved.
He also expressed confidence that Ohio State is well-positioned for the future following its offseason roster-building efforts.
“So we believe in that, Jake has done a good job of cultivating that as well,” he said. “We put more resources from their department perspective because the formula sort of changed around the (revenue) share, there’s more cash from the institution side in the rev share bucket for basketball. Nobody really knows what the numbers are. They’re reported out there and we can read (about it on) social media, but you don’t really know. I do believe that we are in a competitive spot based on this past offseason.”
