Ohio State coaching staff set after hiring of Northwestern's Talor Battle as fifth assistant

COLUMBUS — Jake Diebler’s first Ohio State coaching staff is now set. The new Buckeyes head coach is bringing aboard Northwestern’s Talor Battle to become the fifth and final Ohio State assistant this season.

A decade before Battle helped build one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten at Northwestern, he starred in the conference as a Penn State point guard who finished his career as the Nittany Lions’ all-time leading scorer (2,213 career points).

“Talor has great experience in the Big Ten both as a player and as a coach and I’m excited to welcome him to the Buckeye family,” Diebler said in a statement Monday.

“He is elite at player development which is evident by the success Northwestern has had the past couple of seasons. He has the ability to recruit at a high level and knows what it takes to be successful in this conference. I’ve known Talor for quite a while and I’m looking forward to working alongside him as we take the next step as a program.”

Battle hails from Albany, New York, but made a name for himself nationally in State College, where he ultimately became AP honorable mention All-American in 2011. That season, Battle averaged 20.2 points per game and led Penn State to its first-ever Big Ten Championship game, plus its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.

The two-time All-Big Ten first-team honoree led the Nittany Lions in scoring four straight seasons, the second of which saw Battle and Penn State win the NIT.

Battle played professionally oversees for seven years before starting his coaching career at his alma mater. After just one season back at Penn State, he made the move to Northwestern. Working under longtime Wildcats head coach Chris Collins from 2021-24, Battle assisted his younger brother Boo Buie and Chase Audige in forming one of the nation’s more intimidating guard duos.

During the 2022-23 season — the first of Northwestern’s two straight 12-win Big Ten seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances — Audige earned Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors, and Buie showed out at the point, becoming the program’s first player since 2012 to earn All-Big Ten first-team recognition.

Now, Battle will get to work with another highly-talented Big Ten backcourt in 2024-25: Ohio State will be led by point guard Bruce Thornton and shooting guard Meechie Johnson.

An NCAA rule change last offseason allows programs to have as many as five assistants instead of the previous maximum of three.

Diebler is taking full advantage of that change.

He first added former University of South Carolina Upstate and Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson to the Ohio State bench. Dickerson previously coached seven seasons at Ohio State under Thad Matta, including six as Matta’s associate head coach.

Then Diebler hired North Carolina State’s Joel Justus as his associate head coach. Justus was just part of a magical nine-game N.C. State run, first to an ACC Tournament title and then to a Final Four appearance. He recruited two of the top-three scorers from that Wolfpack team, but his recruiting success stretches back to when he was an assistant at Kentucky.

Diebler’s third hire was Jamall Walker, a four-year assistant under Bryce Drew at Grand Canyon who previously served as an assistant at Illinois for eight years. Not only will Walker’s move to Ohio State be a return to the Big Ten, but it will also be a return to Ohio. He spent three total seasons at Ohio University across two separate stints (2010-12) and (2008-09), both under John Groce, who then hired him at Illinois.

The same week Diebler hired Justus and Walker, he took on Luke Simons, who spent the last two years at Baylor, during which the Scott Drew-led Bears won a combined 47 games and made two trips to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Diebler’s connections to the Drew family are well documented. Diebler played for Homer Drew and Bryce Drew at Valparaiso and then coached with Bryce at both Valparaiso and Vanderbilt. Simons also worked under Bryce with Diebler at Vanderbilt from 2016-19 and under Bryce with Diebler at Valparaiso one season prior to their stay in Nashville. At both stops, Simons took on director of scouting duties.