Ohio State interim Jake Diebler was able to turn a 6-2 record into a full-time job with the Buckeyes and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo admits he was surprised by the move.
Speaking on the situation at Monday’s press conference, the Hall of Fame coach said: “I was surprised. Happy for him. I was a little surprised, yeah. But I’m also happy for him. I think it’s great.”
Izzo’s Spartans were on the other end of one of Diebler’s six victories taking over for Chris Holtmann.
And with a number of high-profile firings such as Juwan Howard at Michigan and Kenny Payne at Louisville, the Spartans HC believes there are some very good opportunities out there for other coaches.
“A lot of good jobs open,” Izzo continued. “It will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see how many more open in the next two to three days or maybe by the end of next weekend. Which is sad for me in the profession.”
Izzo has been at the helm at MSU since 1995 and it’s the only major college hoops program he’s ever coached at.
Not everybody can enjoy that kind of stability and success but Jake Diebler is hoping he can have a similar run in Columbus.