Ross Bjork explains the standard for Ohio State basketball

The Ohio State Buckeyes are entering a new era for basketball, with Ross Bjork taking over as the athletic director and Jake Diebler becoming the team’s next full-time head coach.

Now, Bjork explained that there is going to be a high standard for Ohio State basketball. That means consistently competing for conference championships and Final Four appearances.

“I think we should be consistently in the conversation for Big Ten Championships,” Ross Bjork said. “And if you’re doing that then you’re going to be in a postseason run where you have the wherewithal to go to the Final Four and cut down those nets.”

Ohio State last won the Big Ten Conference Tournament in 2013, with the Buckeyes’ last conference regular season crown coming in 2012. Those teams were coached by Thad Matta. It was under Matta that Ohio State last went to the Final Four, in 2012, and the Elite Eight, in 2013. Since then, the Buckeyes have been to the NCAA Tournament six times. In 1960, Ohio State won its only national championship. That was under head coach Fred Taylor.

Now, Ross Bjork wants to see Ohio State unlock the things within its program that can make the basketball team a championship contender. That includes raising money and increasing attendance at games moving forward.

“We’ve been to Final Fours in recent history. So, we have that in our DNA. The way I described it to Adam when I talked about it last month was, ‘We have a blue blood type program.’ Now, we need to be consistent in maximizing those ingredients. So, to me, those are the things that he can activate. So, whether it’s the recruiting piece or it’s the resources, whether it’s working with The Foundation and The 1870 Society on NIL,” Bjork said.

“We have to maximize all those resources. We need to sell more season tickets, right, we lowered ticket prices, we’re getting ready to launch all the season ticket renewals. Those things all have to be turned on, and this man right here [Jake Diebler] has the leadership ability to activate all of those things. So, those are the ingredients that we have. Now, we have to turn it. So, that’ll be the work that we have to do. All of us in this department have to think of basketball at a higher level to achieve what we want in terms of reaching that standard of cutting down nets.”

Much of Ross Bjork’s expectations are going to be on new head coach Jake Diebler to reach. He has experience in the program, having worked as an assistant and the interim head coach before getting promoted to the full-time head coaching role.