Buckeyes hire former Indiana assistant Brian Walsh to coaching staff

COLUMBUS — Jake Diebler has finalized his coaching staff for his second season at Ohio State.

He has hired a former Indiana assistant with strong ties to the current Buckeyes roster. Brian Walsh will join the bench to replace Talor Battle, who left Ohio State this offseason for Penn State, his alma mater.

Walsh coached Buckeyes guard Gabe Cupps at Indiana. Cupps left the Hoosiers program earlier this offseason, transferring into Ohio State to play for his home-state school after two years at Indiana.

Jake Diebler enters his second season with plenty of pressure after missing the NCAA Tournament in his first season at the helm of the program. The Buckeyes were expected to make the tournament but lost pivotal games down the stretch last year, finishing 17-15 overall and 9-11 in conference play, including being bounced from the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Next season needs to be better, and the Buckeyes have semi-overhauled the roster with transfers they expect to help them out a great bit.

This move comes just days after Diebler and the Buckeyes landed former Baylor power forward Joshua Ojianwuna from the transfer portal. Ojianwuna is the fourth transfer addition of the offseason for Ohio State. He joins former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly, former Wright State power forward Brandon Noel and former Indiana guard Gabe Cupps. Tilly and Noel are proven scorers in the frontcourt from their time at the mid-major level, while Cupps is a former Ohio Mr. Basketball honoree who started games for the Hoosiers before entering the transfer portal.