The Ohio State basketball program has not had a good season for each of the last three seasons. They have not participated in the NCAA Tournament in any of those years. Jake Diebler thought he was going to be able to change that this season in his first year as a head coach.
Instead, he did the same thing that Chris Holtmann did the two previous years. He ended up choking away a nice start to the year and didn't make the Tournament. He has mentioned that the standard for the program should be to make the tournament every single year.
Athletic Director Ross Bjork recently talked about his expectations for the program. He believes that the team should be able to be more successful than they have been. In fact, Bjork believes that the ceiling is a lot higher for this program than what they've shown.
Ohio State AD Ross Bjork has high expectations for the Ohio State basketball program
Bjork believes that the basketball program has blue blood elements, but they have to be more consistent. He talked with Eleven Warriors about that and believes that they need to do a better job of supporting the basketball program as they do with football.
Fans have been very vocal about the fact that hiring Diebler may have been a mistake. Many, including myself, wanted Dusty May. However, I did believe Diebler deserved a shot to get the job. I just wanted May more, and it seems like that may have been the better choice.
Diebler will be facing a lot of pressure next season to be better. So far, the transfer portal haul that he has brought in leaves something to be desired. He still has work to do on that front. The good thing is that Diebler understands what the standard is for the program. It's something he embraces.
Ohio State basketball fans can only hope that the Buckeyes start to get better players from the portal and play better at the end of the season. Playing better at the end of close games is necessary to make the NCAA Tournament, too.