Since becoming head coach of the Buckeyes, Jake Diebler has placed a priority on the ‘brotherhood’ at Ohio State, specifically when it comes to connecting the current team to its rich alumni base. Those efforts were put into practice last week when the program held their annual ‘Vet Week,’ bringing back several notable former Buckeyes to participate in team drills, compete and scrimmages and even bond with the current players off the court.
It was a star-studded affair all week, with former Buckeye stars such as Aaron Craft, D’Angelo Russell, E.J. Liddell, Greg Oden and Scoonie Penn all returning to Columbus to meet and work out with the new-look OSU squad. When asked about what this week meant to the program, Diebler said it is a “big deal” to have players who have succeeded with the Buckeyes and played in the NBA come back and interact with the team, especially when they are giving them helpful hints on the court.
“My favorite moments during these last couple days are when I see D’Angelo Russell grab Bruce Thornton or John Mobley and put his arm around and talk about leadership, or Scoonie Penn talking through ball screen stuff, then you got Greg Oden working with Ivan (Njegovan),” Diebler said. “That one-on-one, former player to current player interaction is my favorite part.
“And we had a ton of that the last couple days. We had a ton of it on the court. We had some of it in the weight room. We had some of it off the court at dinner. I’m so thankful for our former players, and how much they care and love this program and their investment in our current guys.”
Diebler also talked about the type of feedback he received from former players regarding how his team is shaping out this season. He mentioned that players, including the 10-year NBA veteran Russsell, pointed to the high energy and intensity they practice with as something that impressed them during the week.
“It’s hard, because it’s June and you don’t want to overvalue a couple day period. But the feedback we got from our former players was that there’s a vibe, there’s an energy, there’s a joy, there’s a toughness, a work ethic,” Diebler said. “D’Angelo Russell told me twice in the (scrimmage), ‘Man, your guys are going hard.’ And that’s important. That matters to me. You want to be the hardest playing team, the toughest team out there. So for a guy like D’Angelo to say that — I didn’t ask him that, he said that — that made me really excited.”
Diebler also stated that the group of former Buckeyes took note of the tweaks he and his staff have made since the underwhelming 2024-25 campaign, which he thinks is a testament to his current group’s ability to adapt to and embrace change.
“They already saw a difference in some of the things we were trying to do, some of the changes we’re trying to make, and for that to be executed in a short amount of time gets me really hopeful about how quickly this group can pick things up.”
