Buckeyes Now

Thad Matta Adds Former Ohio State Players Greg Oden, Jon Diebler To Butler Staff

Oden was a critical piece of Matta's 2007 Final Four team, while Diebler was one of the best shooters of his tenure.

Andrew Lind

In this story:

According to a report from David Woods of the IndyStar, former Ohio State center Greg Oden and guard Jon Diebler are joining former head coach Thad Matta’s staff at Butler.

The 34-year-old Oden played just one season under Matta, leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships and appearance in the 2007 national title game. He averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game to earn All-American honors.

Oden was the No. 1 overall pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2007 NBA Draft, but injuries limited him to just 105 career games over seven seasons. He averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Blazers and Miami Heat, appearing in the NBA Finals during his final season in 2013-14.

After a brief stint with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Oden spent time at Ohio State as a student manager and student assistant coach under Matta and current Chris Holtmann from 2016-19.

He also played for Carmen’s Crew in The Basketball Tournament and the Aliens of the BIG3 Basketball League before returning to Columbus as a graduate assistant for the 2021-22 season.

The 33-year-old Diebler, meanwhile, played four seasons under Matta from 2007-11. He averaged 10.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 144 games, which includes the 20setting the record for career and single-game three-pointers along the way.

Diebler was selected by the Blazers in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft, but his rights were quickly traded to the Houston Rockets. His rights were later included a trade that sent 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony to the Chicago Bulls in 2019.

That said, Diebler played his entire 10-year professional career overseas in Greece, Turkey and Israel. He also spent several summers with Carmen’s Crew, leading the Ohio State alumni team to the tournament championship and $2 million prize in 2019.

Diebler, who is the younger brother of Ohio State assistant Jake Diebler, officially announced his retirement following last year’s tournament, when Carmen’s Crew lost to The Money Team in the Round of 16 at the Covelli Center.

“This is it for me. I am done playing basketball,” Diebler said. “I’m at a point in my life and my career when it’s time to be done. I’ve had a fortunate career.”

It’s unclear at this time what roles Oden and Diebler will have with the Bulldogs, as Matta has already hired Mike Pegues, Kevin Kuwik and David Ragland as his three full-time assistants after being named the head coach earlier this month.

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Andrew Lind
ANDREW LIND

Andrew Lind is an Ohio State beat writer and photographer at BuckeyesNow, founder of The Ohio State Uniform Database and the NCAA and NFL writer at SportsLogos.net.

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