Ohio State Men's Basketball Coach Jake Diebler avoids a real answer when speaking about the Buckeyes NIL situation.
FOX play-by-play star Gus Johnson gave head coach Jake Diebler and the Ohio State Buckeyes' Men's Basketball team a life raft on Saturday night during their loss to the Virginia Cavaliers.
Midway through the first half, Johnson commented that, unlike the Cavaliers, who bought their roster, Ohio State hoops doesn't have the funds because they all go to head coach Ryan Day and the football program.
Okay, while that is not completely true, there are probably kernels of truth in that statement, and on Monday, Diebler all but confirmed that.
When asked about Johnson's comments, Diebler went on a nearly three-minute rant in which he didn't address the question at all. He skirted around the answer, saying that "all NIL information is inaccurate," and that "Ross and his team are working hard," and finally that "there will be a time to discuss it all, just not right now."
He said a lot by not saying anything at all.
Ohio State's men's basketball roster value is not disclosed at this point, but for comparison's sake, the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines have an estimated roster value of about $10 million while the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats have an over $4 million roster.
Whatever the Buckeyes' number is, it isn't close to either of those, and in this day and age, you won't have a spot at the table if you don't spend.
Plain and simple.
Now, the other side of this discussion is the balance between the spending for the basketball program and the football program.
The Ohio State Football roster is over $35M and will be higher than that in 2026. Now, it makes sense that it is significantly more since the number of actual players is 10x that of the basketball program.
The basketball program doesnt need $40M, at least not right now, but it does need to spend. I guess the ultimate question is that, since Ohio State is playing the frugal card, would you rather have a nationally competitive football or basketball program?
If there were a player who would get the football Buckeyes closer to hoisting the trophy or a player who would get the Buckeyes basketball closer to the tournament, who would you rather have?
My vote is for the gridiron guy.
However, the bigger question that remains is why Ohio State is shopping in the discount section in all of this. They have fumbled their NIL programs the past two seasons, they have had to be cautious in the transfer portal on the football side and on the basketball side, and they clearly do not have the top talent pool.
Something needs to give, and when Diebler does find the appropriate time to speak on it, I hope that he tells the truth.
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