COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jake Diebler’s second summer in charge of Ohio State men’s basketball wasn’t supposed to feel like a reboot, yet his first extended media session since spring portal season made one thing plain: the Buckeyes’ 2025‑26 campaign will be judged by a single, uncluttered rallying cry—“Winning Over Everything.”**
Standing on the practice‑court sideline at the Covelli Center this week, the 38‑year‑old head coach repeated the phrase like a metronome. What began as a locker‑room slogan in March has hardened into the program’s operating system. “We’re stripping away distractions—rankings, NIL chatter, outside predictions,” Diebler said. “Every drill, every film session, every roster decision runs through the question: does it help us win?”
Last year’s transitional 17‑15 record bought Diebler good‑will but little comfort; Ohio State has missed three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, Value City Arena ticket pick‑up lines are short, and the Big Ten’s middle class is merciless. To change the conversation, Diebler attacked the transfer portal with purpose, securing four veteran newcomers—point guard Gabe Cupps (Indiana), stretch forward Brandon Noel (Wright State), seven‑footer Christoph Tilly (Santa Clara) and defensive anchor Josh Ojianwuna (Baylor) — and supplementing them with a freshman trio highlighted by German wing Mathieu Grujicic.
Diebler calls the reshuffled roster “older, longer and louder,” noting that four projected starters are now upper‑classmen. Still, the coach’s mantra is as much psychological triage as motivational poster: players must learn to prioritize unselfish decisions after a year in which injuries and transfers sapped cohesion.
The biggest variable in Diebler’s year‑two experiment is also his most physically imposing. At 6‑10 and 230 pounds, Josh Ojianwuna arrived from Baylor brandishing elite defensive metrics—10.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per 40 minutes—and a reputation for rim protection that the Buckeyes sorely lacked last winter. But the senior has yet to take a live rep in scarlet and gray.
On February 9, while still a Bear, Ojianwuna tore the ACL in his left knee just five minutes into a win over UCF, ending a breakout season of 7.4 points and 6.4 boards per night.
Four months and one successful surgery later, the timeline remains foggy. “We are not rushing him,” Diebler stressed when asked for an update. “He’s attacking rehab, but we will not compromise his future—or our season—by setting an artificial date.”
Medical staffers say early December would be optimistic; privately, some on campus wonder if a redshirt is possible. What’s certain is that Ojianwuna’s absence reshuffles Ohio State’s depth chart. Tilly and Noel, imported from mid‑majors, suddenly shoulder Big Ten frontline duties against the likes of Purdue’s five‑star bruisers.
Noel averaged 19 points on 55 percent shooting in the Horizon League, while Tilly’s touch (61.7 percent inside the arc) energized Santa Clara’s offense. Yet both must prove they can survive the conference’s weekly physics experiment on the glass. Diebler admits the leap in competition is steep but counters that spacing and pace will mask some size concerns.
In practices open to reporters this week, Noel floated to the perimeter for trail threes, and Tilly executed inverted pick‑and‑rolls w point guard Bruce Thornton, creating passing windows reminiscent of European ball. If Ojianwuna returns even by January, the Buckeyes could toggle between a high‑post finesse lineup and a bruising, rim‑protecting unit that funnels drives into a shot‑blocking wall—something Ohio State hasn’t deployed since the Kaleb Wesson era.
While the frontcourt searches for chemistry, the guards already exude confidence. Senior captain Bruce Thornton (17.7 PPG) and sophomore sparkplug John Mobley Jr. form one of the league’s most seasoned duos. Thornton’s efficiency—four assists to 1.3 turnovers—allows Diebler to shift him off‑ball, freeing Mobley to dictate tempo. Add Cupps’ Ohio Mr. Basketball pedigree and redshirt sophomore Taison Chatman’s return from hip surgery, and Ohio State suddenly boasts four scholarship ball‑handlers.
Grujicic and freshman sharpshooter Myles Herro offer wing depth; both drilled better than 38 percent from three in European and AAU play, respectively. Combined with Noel’s 37.3 percent career clip, Diebler sees a roster capable of five‑out spacing—an antidote to the clogged paint that doomed last year’s offense in crunch time.
Diebler’s practices now open with six‑minute “W.O.E. stations.” One group perfects low‑man rotations, another sprints through late‑clock situational offense, and a third repeats free‑throw routines while arena speakers pump in simulated crowd noise. Miss a box‑out? Run a sideline‑to‑sideline penalty. Drift off task? Coaches blare a whistle and reset the drill.
Players say the structure has tightened accountability. “Coach puts the goal right on the scoreboard every day—minus‑15 turnovers, plus‑10 rebounds, 80 percent at the line,” Mobley explained. “If your personal stat chase doesn’t fit those numbers, it’s irrelevant.”
Though preseason magazines will likely peg Ohio State in the league’s muddled middle, internal analytics staffers insist a top‑four finish is realistic if two portal pickups hit and Ojianwuna logs at least 15 February minutes per game. The schedule helps: Indiana and UCLA visit Columbus only once, and a January lull offers recovery time for nagging injuries.
Still, the margins are brutal. Purdue returns All‑American guard Myles Colvin, Michigan adds 7‑2 Stanford transfer Maxime Raynaud, and Illinois re‑loaded with three top‑60 freshmen. As Diebler puts it, “Winning Over Everything isn’t a marketing line—it’s preservation. If we don’t breathe that every possession, the league will expose us.”
Reaction inside Buckeye Nation splits along familiar lines. Optimists point to Thornton’s senior year, a mature frontcourt and Ojianwuna’s upside as evidence the tournament drought ends in March. Skeptics counter that a roster built on mid‑major transfers and a rehabbing center can’t solve perennial rebounding woes. The debate churns daily on message boards; even Diebler’s older brother, former OSU sharpshooter Jon Diebler, joked on a local radio hit that “Jake took the family’s sleep schedule and shredded it.”
What no one argues is the clarity of purpose. “We may not know when Josh is back,” Diebler concluded, “but the standard does not wait. Our guys understand that every film clip, every sprint, every late‑night ice bath is judged by one standard: did it move us closer to a win?”
