Soaring season for former Ram Diebler

COLUMBUS - Jon Diebler doesn't control games like he so often did in high school, nor does the Ohio State team he plays on flatten a majority of opponents like Upper Sandusky (and in his freshman year, Fostoria) did while winning three league titles and twice advancing to the state championship game.

Diebler obviously wasn't going to rack up points at near the pace he did in high school, on his way to becoming the state's career prep scoring leader.

But the 6-foot-6 junior guard appears to be having the time of his life.

With how the Ohio State men have flourished since the return of do-everything point guard Evan Turner a month ago, and how the state's 2007 Mr. Basketball has blossomed as a player this season, it's not hard to see why.

The Buckeyes, ranked 13th in the country, take a 17-6 record (7-3 in the Big Ten with six straight wins) into today's home against Iowa.

Diebler has started every game this season and is averaging 12.8 points, shooting 44 percent on 3-pointers and overall from the floor. He has made 68 3-pointers this season as the team's resident gunner.

"I've loved every bit of it; it's going fast," Diebler said after his team's 85-63 home win over Minnesota last Sunday, in which he hit five 3's and scored 19 points. "I can't believe I'm almost done; I've got about a year and a half left. Again, it's been a blast. I love being around my teammates, love being around the coaches; the atmosphere here is just amazing."

And already he's making an impression in the school record book. With 212 career 3-pointers, he's second behind Jamar Butler (242 treys 2005-08). Even though the long ball is the main part of his offensive game (just 51 career field goals inside the arc), Diebler said he wasn't aware of his place on the list when told of it.

"Really? It's pretty cool, I guess - I didn't know that," he said. "Jamar, he could shoot the basketball, so to be mentioned with him is an honor. He really helped me my freshman year, helped me learn the ropes."

When he joined an Ohio State program coming off a national runner-up finish - followed by the departure of freshmen Greg Oden, Mike Conley and Daequan Cook - Diebler faced a bigger learning curve than many might expect from someone who scored 77 points in a one game his junior season, averaged nearly 43 per game as a senior and tallied 3,208 over his career.

The competition multiplied in difficulty in college, there was not as much time to get a shot off like in the Northern Ohio League, and Diebler's overall role changed significantly.

"You're playing against the best players on everyone's high school team," he said, "so the level of play is just so different.

"Freshman year I had to learn to move without the ball. High school I had the ball quite a bit and was creating a lot, but learning to move without the ball and playing off people has been a big adjustment."

Diebler started eight games as a freshman, averaging just 5.9 points and making less than 30 percent of his 3-pointers on a team that missed the NCAA Tournament but won the National Invitational Tournament. He made a big jump sophomore year when he started all 33 games and averaged 11.2 points, making 96 3-pointers (41.6 percent).

This year he's on pace to set the school record for single-season percentage on 3's. He's also becoming a threat outside of the long ball, with more free throws already than either of his two previous seasons.

Turner, the Buckeyes' leading scorer and Diebler's roommate, said Diebler has become much stronger mentally during his time in Columbus.

"Before, when he first got here, if he missed a shot he wouldn't shoot again," Turner said. "Now, he's confident. His defense really came along, and he's penetrating more and his scoring really came along. He's growing into a complete player."

Turner, an Illinois native, didn't know what to think when Ohio's Mr. Basketball and career scoring leader struggled upon arrival in Columbus.

"I just asked him, 'did you really score all those points in high school?' He said, 'yeah,'" Turner said.

"We all have to go through adjustments. I believe he had a lot of excess pressure on him because of who he was, and I just felt bad for him because everybody's expecting him to do this and that. He's a great guy, and great things always happen to good people."

The biggest jump in Diebler's game, according to his father and high school coach, has been on defense.

"I think, watching him grow as a defensive player and understand the game and understand a possession ahead, I think that's the most significant improvement that I've seen," Keith Diebler said Sunday as he attended a pregame get-together of Ohio State's 1960 national championship team.

If anything, the improvement can be traced to taking on different responsibilities. Coach Diebler's free-wheeling system led to a high number of possessions in most games and allowed his son to range far on defense, thus racking up rebounds, steals and blocks.

"We always wanted him in the middle of the floor, near the rim and things like that," Keith Diebler said. "I've seen him guard point guards here, to end[ing] up on a post player, which I think his high school experience helped him. He has just has made great strides."

Jon agreed with his father's assessment.

"I just work on flexibility," Diebler said. "Being in a stance more with the strength coach has really helped a lot.

"We never played much straight man-to-man defense [in high school], so again, that was something I had to learn," he said. "The upperclassmen really helped me with that, the coaches, they made the adjustment a lot easier."

Diebler's progress even can be appreciated by players two generations before him.

Before the game against Minnesota, Dick Furry, a senior captain on the Buckeyes' 1960 squad, said he's noted the steps forward Diebler has taken with his shooting and defense.

"I think he's done a fine job, and he'll continue to improve," said Furry, a Columbus native who still resides in the city.

Furry and teammates such as Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Bob Knight set a standard that Ohio State nearly matched before Diebler joined the program - one Diebler and his teammates also are trying to match this season.

"I want to get to a national championship game, obviously," he said. "Win the Big Ten first. That's our main goal - win the Big Ten and go on from there."