Ohio State coach Thad Matta at the Buckeyes’ 2015 Big Ten Tournament game against Minnesota where he became the program’s all-time winningest coach. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Former Buckeye men’s basketball greats Jon Diebler and Greg Oden will reportedly join their former head coach Thad Matta as part of the coaching staff at Butler, according to David Woods of IndyStar.
Oden served as a graduate assistant on head coach Chris Holtmann’s staff last season. He played at Ohio State in 2006-07, helping guide the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament Championship Game before entering the NBA as the No. 1 overall selection by the Portland Trail Blazers.
He returned to Ohio State as a student manager under Holtmann in 2017 as he completed his bachelor’s degree in sport industry in 2019.
“He helped us initially when we first got here a couple years ago and then he kind of stepped away and did some other things and then said, ‘Hey, coach, I’ll go be an assistant at a mid-major. I just want to coach. I want to get my foot in the door.’ I think that initiative that he took and that hunger was obvious,” Holtmann said March 19. “He wants to build a career in coaching.”
Diebler played for the Buckeyes from 2008-11, cementing himself as one of the program’s best 3-point sharpshooters in his time under Matta.
The Upper Sandusky, Ohio, native holds the Ohio State career record for made 3-pointers with 374, shooting a program season-best 50.2 percent from deep in 2011. His final three seasons in the scarlet and gray all rank in the top four for most 3-point field goals made in a season in team history.
Diebler was drafted by the Trail Blazers in the second round of the 2011 NBA draft before playing seven seasons in multiple European basketball leagues where he averaged 8.9 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting from deep.
Matta is in his first season back at Butler, taking over the program April 3 after he coached the Bulldogs in 2000-01. Matta served as Ohio State’s head coach for 13 seasons, leading the Buckeyes to two Final Four appearances.
Most recently, Matta was the associate athletic director for men’s basketball administration at Indiana last season.
Holtmann said March 19 that the program wanted to help Oden find a position to kickstart a career in coaching.
“We kind of felt, like, an obligation this year. We need to help him find something this offseason to where he can go get some recruiting experience, and that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Holtmann said.
