Report: Ohio State to hire USC Upstate head coach Dave Dickerson as associate head coach

Ohio State is adding a familiar face to a prominent role on new coach Jake Diebler‘s staff, tapping USC Upstate coach Dave Dickerson to be the new associate head coach, according to a report from analyst Jeff Goodman.

Dickerson and Diebler were on staff at Ohio State together from 2013-16, when Diebler served as the program’s video coordinator and Dickerson was the associate head coach.

The now-former USC Upstate coach was actually on staff at Ohio State longer than Diebler during that time period, serving with the Buckeyes from 2010-17, with six seasons as associate head coach on Thad Matta‘s staff.

The new arrival to the Buckeyes’ staff has spent the past six seasons at USC Upstate, where he helped guide the Spartans to one of the most successful runs in school history.

USC Upstate reached the semifinal round of the Big South Men’s Basketball Championship twice in a row in 2022 and 2023. USC Upstate set a program record for conference victories in the Big South in 2021-22 with 10.

Dickerson has more than 20 years of college coaching experience with stops at Gardner-Webb, James Madison, Radford, Maryland, Tulane and Ohio State.

Jake Diebler describes being hired full time

Diebler served as the interim coach following the firing of Chris Holtmann midseason, and the Buckeyes enjoyed a nice resurgence under his watch.

That, in part, led to Diebler getting the gig permanently. He explained what that process was like as the team prepared to take an NIT bid.

“We didn’t know our postseason, what that was going to look like,” Diebler said after being introduced as head coach. “So my mind was kind of still wrapped around that a lot and wrapped around just how we could serve our players when I got a chance to meet with Ross [Bjork] and just how that you know, kind of unfolded.”

The two met and things progressed quickly from there. Diebler described the whole process as a very emotional period.

“Yeah, I was I was a little anxious,” Diebler admitted. “There were just a lot of different emotions going on and when he came over to our house, and this really became real, that was almost exhausting in itself because there was just an abundance of joy and happiness and we’re calling our parents and it was special. But it was emotionally a wild, wild day.”