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.
photo courtesy of elevenwarriors.com