William Buford to join Ohio State Coaching Staff as Program Assistant

Now that both the transfer portal and NBA Draft windows have closed, the Ohio State Basketball team has its roster set for the 2026-27 season. But what about the coaching staff? Jake Diebler announced today his official coaching staff for the Scarlet and Gray for next season, and it includes a name that all Buckeye Basketball fans know.

Jake Diebler is bringing back former Ohio State star William Buford to join his team on the bench as a program assistant. This news is coming with the full coaching staff changes for the 2026-27 season.

The Toledo, Ohio native is someone that every Buckeye Basketball fan knows and loves after his stellar career in the Scarlet and Gray. Buford was a four-year player at Ohio State from 2009-2012, where he earned All-Big Ten honors three times and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He helped lead the Buckeyes to three Big Ten championships and was the third-leading scorer on the 2012 Final Four team. Buford finished his career in Columbus as the No. 3 all-time leading scorer in program history with 1,990 career points.

The role Buford will be taking on in his first off-court job as program assistant is a position that was not on Diebler's staff before. His responsibilities will be breaking down film and analyzing data to find areas for improvement, and to help prepare players and coaches for upcoming opponents.

Buford is one of the most decorated Ohio State basketball players and provides great experience of what it's like to play championship-level college basketball, which can be very helpful for Jake Diebler trying to get the program back to the level it was at during Buford's time with the Buckeyes. He also knows a thing or two about scoring the basketball that he can pass along to the current players.

Diebler has often mentioned wanting the Buckeye basketball program to be open for former players and letting them have a part in the program. Bringing William Buford onto his staff is another emphasis on that message for former players to come back and be a key part of what he's building at Ohio State.

The addition of the former Buckeye Basketball star wasn't the only update to the Ohio State coaching staff. Jamall Walker was promoted to associate head coach ahead of his third season on Jake Diebler's staff. He'll be replacing Joel Justus, who vacated the position by leaving for Vanderbilt this offseason to join Mark Byington's staff. Assistant coaches Dave Dickerson, Brian Walsh, and Luke Simons will all be returning to the staff as well.

Diebler brings in Mike Wells as his final assistant coach to the staff, and Wells provides a lot of NBA experience. Wells was an assistant for the Houston Rockets and was on staff for the 1995 NBA title team, and got a second NBA Championship when he was on the bench for the San Antonio Spurs in 2007. He's also coached in the Lakers, Wizards, Jazz, and Hornets organizations.

One of the main goals in recruiting is turning over players to the NBA. With the amount of experience Wells brings from the NBA level, it gives Diebler a strong recruiting pitch when he's on the trail trying to land the nation's top players.

Another coaching staff change was Diebler bringing back Dave Richardson as the team's strength and conditioning coach. Richardson was with the Buckeyes from 2005 to 2018, helping train players like Evan Turner, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, D'Angelo Russell, and more. He's coming from Arkansas after spending eight seasons in Fayetteville, where he worked alongside Eric Musselman and then John Calipari.

Jake Diebler is now entering his third full season at the helm for Ohio State. Now that he's solidified his coaching staff, they're ready to continue their push at getting the program back to the level it once was.

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