ROSEMONT, Ill. – He took the stage first, leading a three-man Big Ten coaching entourage onto the makeshift television set.

Entering his first season as the Ohio State men’s basketball coach, Jake Diebler walked onto the risers ahead of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and Northwestern coach Chris Collins. For a little more than 15 minutes, the three coaches sat for a panel discussion about their seasons, their jobs and, in Diebler’s case, his family.

The first question to the three was directed to Diebler: what’s it like now having a family of six? Diebler and his wife, Jordyn, welcomed a baby boy in early July, their fourth child.

“It’s been good,” Diebler said. “By number four you’re used to not sleeping as much. No, we’re blessed. Everybody is healthy. Our kids are having a great time. They’ve enjoyed being around the team and spending some time in the gym.”

It was an easy way to start a whirlwind of a day for Diebler and the Buckeyes inside the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center. There was the four-person live chat, interviews with multiple national radio shows and dozens of quick, informal conversations caught in the hallways with fellow Big Ten coaches and players. It’s a quick business trip for the Buckeyes, who flew in Thursday morning and were slated to fly back home in the evening.

Ohio State, picked eighth in the unofficial official Big Ten preseason media poll conducted jointly by The Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star, is in some ways as much an unknown as anyone else in the newly expanded, 18-team conference.

Here’s what else Diebler talked about.

Bruce Thornton lauded for his work ethic

In the televised chat aired live on the conference’s network, Diebler sat with McCaffery on his right and Collins on his left. As each coach was invariably asked about his roster, Diebler got a question about third-year guard Bruce Thornton and the leadership he provides the Buckeyes.

“Bruce isn’t an every-day guy: he is an every-rep guy,” Diebler said. “Every single day in practice, doesn’t matter the drill. If you are going live, if you are not going live, he goes hard every time. To have that in your program, there’s so much value around that, and he sets the standard for us of what it means to work.”

Thornton is a two-time Ohio State captain and one of the team’s two player representatives at media day. He is joined by fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson Jr., a former Buckeye who transferred to South Carolina and played there for two years before returning for his final season.

“We’ve been intentional about who we’ve invited into our family,” Diebler said. “We have a group of great guys. Now we have to build that chemistry in between the lines.”

Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy

Buckeyes are healthy as practice continues

Illness has hit Ohio State’s early practice portions, but Diebler said the Buckeyes are navigating the start of the fall pretty well.

“(We’re) mostly healthy,” Diebler said. “We’ve had some sickness go through the program a little bit. In talking to other coaches, that seems to be going around, but for the most part we’re moving forward mostly healthy.”

This time last year, Ohio State was without freshmen Taison Chatman and Austin Parks as both dealt with preseason injuries. That missed time would hinder their development, affecting their ability to impact the Buckeyes when the season began.

This year, at this point, nobody is in a similar situation after a summer that saw multiple players miss time here and there with minor injuries.

“As of right now, we’re going to have everybody available and I think we’ll have some consistent time to build some chemistry with the whole team together,” Diebler said. “We didn’t have that this summer. We’re now at a point where we can scrimmage against each other and try some different lineups. We’re heading in the right direction.”

Diebler likes Ohio State’s backcourt depth

Thornton, a preseason first-team all-Big Ten pick, and Johnson, a second-team all-SEC pick at South Carolina last year, will anchor Ohio State’s backcourt and provide leadership for this year’s team.

While they will play important roles for the Buckeyes, Diebler said they are part of a deep backcourt he will be relying on.

“I’ve been impressed with how organic and natural that chemistry (between Thornton and Johnson) has seemed,” Diebler said. “That’s been the case honestly for our whole backcourt. We have a great deal of depth in our backcourt. Micah Parrish, Ques Glover, John Mobley. We’ve got depth that’s a real strength for us, and the chemistry within that group has been impressive.”

Ques Glover an early surprise

One of the final additions to the 2024-25 roster has proven to be among Diebler’s biggest pleasant surprises in the early going. Asked what has surprised him, Diebler pointed to the play of Glover, a sixth-year player who was added to the roster when Taison Chatman was lost for the season with a torn ACL.

In 99 career games, Glover has averaged 10.3 points while shooting 46.1% from the floor and 30.6% from 3-point range. He played two years at Florida, transferred to Samford for two more, transferred to BYU, left during the summer, transferred to Kansas State and then missed the 2023-24 season due to injury.

“I’ve been surprised with Ques Glover and his ability to score,” Diebler said.

Two other transfers have been impactful, Diebler said. Ohio State signed Kentucky’s Aaron Bradshaw and Duke’s Sean Stewart, two McDonald’s All-Americans in 2023 who played sparingly for their blue-blood programs before transferring.

Ohio State Buckeyes: Before Ohio State, Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart starred in McDonald’s All-American game

“I also think as Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart have been in our program now for some time, (with) their lack of experience I didn’t fully know how consistent they would be,” Diebler said. “I think they’re developing that consistency. Certainly two very talented players that will play together, but they’re growing in their consistency and I think that really helps the ceiling of our team.”

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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Ohio’s ongoing historic drought lessened over the past week after remnants of Hurricane Helene swept over the state, according to a new map from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

A record-high of 1.44 inches of rain fell on Columbus Friday and showers continued into the weekend.

Franklin County is no longer considered in an exceptional drought, the worst possible dry condition, according to the drought monitor’s newest map. However, a significant chunk of the county remains in the severe to extreme drought.

Extreme drought conditions also disappeared entirely from southwest Ohio in the new map, and a large band of exceptional drought has receded to southeast Ohio.

Only 2% of the state was drought-free on Sept. 24. Now, 14% of the state is clear of dry conditions, mostly in south-central and northeast Ohio, according to U.S. Drought Monitor Data.

Significant swathes of the state have had their drought downgraded from severe to moderate, and abnormally dry conditions—the least severe drought level—have become more common.

Ohio’s drought severity and coverage index, a score from 0 to 500 that measures the state’s general drought levels, fell from 298 to 212 over the past week.

While the previous weekend’s rain has helped, the state will need several rainfall events to exit the drought fully, an NWS meteorologist previously told The Dispatch.

There isn’t much rain in the National Weather Service’s upcoming forecast. Here’s what to expect.

Columbus weather for the week of Oct. 3, 2024

• Thursday: It’ll be sunny with a high near 79.
• Thursday night: It’ll be mostly clear with a low around 52.
• Friday: There will be patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, it’ll be mostly sunny with a high near 79.
• Friday Night: It’ll be mostly clear with a low around 53.
• Saturday: It’ll be sunny with a high near 76.
• Saturday Night: It’ll be clear with a low around 53.
• Sunday: There’s a chance of showers after 2 p.m. It’ll be sunny with a high near 84. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Sunday Night: There’s a chance of showers before 8 p.m. It’ll be mostly clear with a low around 50. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
• Monday: It’ll be sunny with a high near 69.
• Monday Night: It’ll be clear with a low around 45.
• Tuesday: It’ll be sunny with a high near 68.
• Tuesday Night: It’ll be clear with a low around 44.
• Wednesday: It’ll be sunny with a high near 69.

NHart@dispatch.com

@NathanRHart

Several small cities across Ohio are considering bans on camping or sleeping in public − local ordinances that would impact homeless people who live in outdoor encampments.

The trend comes on the heels of a key decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in June that said banning camping isn’t cruel and unusual punishment.

Later this month, the Newark City Council may vote to ban camping in public parks − a proposal that has drawn support and criticism. Downtown business owners and city leaders are frustrated with the ongoing problem and low-income residents are upset with their limited options. Newark is 40 miles east of Columbus.

In September, New Philadelphia adopted a ban on camping in parks, cemeteries or city-owned properties. Campers would get notice to remove their items within 24-hours. After that, police can clear the camp and issue misdemeanor tickets. The city is about 30 miles south of Canton.

Mentor, a city along Lake Erie east of Cleveland, adopted an ordinance in August that bans using bedding, cooking food or doing other living activities on public properties. Mentor officials described it as a public safety measure.

“This is not an anti-anyone ordinance. I want to underscore that publicly. This is just to address specific behaviors where frankly they will do more harm than good and in fact, place persons in danger,” said Joseph Szeman, Mentor law director, at the council meeting.

Anti-public camping ordinances are also being discussed in Toledo, Wilmington, Marietta, Brunswick and Belpre, according to local news reports and the Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio.

What is sparking this trend? In June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling upholding the constitutionality of a local law in Grants Pass, Oregon, that bans camping on public properties. The majority decision said it wasn’t within the federal court’s purview to decide how local governments address people sleeping outside.

The decision cleared the way for other cities to adopt similar bans.

In Ohio, 11,386 people are homeless, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Of those people, 79% live in shelters. Nationwide, HUD reported in 2023 that 653,100 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2023 — a 12% increase, or 70,650 more people, from 2022.

Marcus Roth, spokesman for the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said during the pandemic, fewer people were willing to live in shelters and moved to outdoor encampments. That made the problem more visible.

But once someone is unsheltered and living outdoors, they need more help to find housing and support services, he said.

“This criminalization path is tempting for politicians who want to make it look like they’re doing something about homelessness without actually doing something. They’re actually making the problem a lot worse,” Roth said.

Cities should avoid such knee-jerk responses and instead focus on expanding supports for unsheltered people and address the affordable housing crisis, he said.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.