Inside Ohio State men’s basketball’s sports science program

As practice stretches into its second hour, fatigue shows across the court – shoulders slump, jump shots fall short and heart rates climb.

But on the sideline, a small group isn’t watching the scoreboard or the clock. They’re watching the data.

Behind Ohio State men’s basketball’s practices is a sports science team that tracks sleep, stress, recovery and player workload to maximize performance while limiting wear and tear throughout the season. Using wearable technology, force plates and GPS tracking, the staff helps coaches adjust practice intensity and recovery plans to keep players fresh heading into the stretch run of the season.

“Ultimately, the goal is to best position our guy to be their best on game day,” Diebler said. “Sports science plays a huge role in that.”

The process begins before players even step on the court.

Ohio State employs five full-time sports scientists in its athletics department, including assistant sports scientist Kyle Pulvermacher and associate sports scientist Paul Jones, who work directly with the men’s basketball team.

By creating projected workloads for each athlete before practice, they can avoid physical strain and mental burnout during practices, according to Jones. 

“Every athlete is going to react differently to stress,” Jones said. “So we use that to our advantage.”

With the team traveling more than 2,000 miles across the country to play Oregon and Washington this season, balancing workloads and recovery can be an arduous task.

“So let’s manage our expectations. Let’s hold these values down just a little bit and make sure that the athlete is getting the rest that they need,” Jones said. 

To track recovery, the Buckeyes utilize Whoop wristbands and Oura Ring technology. They measure sleep quality, fatigue and heart rate levels. The science team withholds this data from the coaches to maintain player privacy, Jones explained. 

Game and practice performance data is calculated through Catapult GPS vests and then translated into player load. This information is communicated to the athlete daily based on two categories: their explosive ratio and their overall work rate, Jones said. 

“Those are two things that are really important to the way that coach Diebler wants to play basketball,” Jones said. 

While GPS data helps manage fatigue, it doesn’t measure everything. For a program built on pace and athleticism, vertical explosiveness is just as critical.

Ohio State employs dual 1,000-hertz plates for athletes to stand and jump on, measuring how much force each leg produces and how tired the muscles and nervous system are. 

“We’re able to collect 1,000 data points on each leg every second the athlete is on the plate,” Jones said. 

What starts as a series of data points on a force plate quickly becomes a collaborative discussion.

Each week, medical, nutrition, sports psychology and sports science staff meet to review the data collected on every athlete. Together, they assess recovery trends, workload targets and individual concerns before presenting recommendations to players.

But the final step belongs to the athletes themselves to own their data. For some, that means additional recovery. For others, it means pushing harder within safe limits, Jones explained.

“We want to make sure that they’re ready to answer the call,” Jones said. 

This approach not only applies to the current season but also extends into the future thanks to GRAMP. 

The Grant for the Rapid Assessment and Monitoring Program, GRAMP, provides the university with a complete physical, cognitive and personality profile to create a tailored plan within 72 hours of the athlete’s arrival on campus, according to Jones.

“We’re doing this with over 800 student-athletes on an annual basis, and then doing that at recurring intervals throughout the season,” Jones said.

On the practice floor, effort is visible in the sweat, sprint drills and final reps. What isn’t visible is the recovery strategy built into every decision behind the scenes.

“College sport has long been built around how you stress an athlete,” Jones said. “What about how you rest?”