MOUNT VERNON – Ohio sports fans saw the most iconic homecoming in recent memory when LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers in 2014, the same year Mount Vernon native Mike Wells left his last college basketball job.
While James’ 2026 free agency led him away from home, Wells came back, now as an assistant coach with Ohio State men’s basketball.
The new role wasn’t a typical fit, but one Wells slides into perfectly. He was exactly what 39-year-old, third-year head coach Jake Diebler needed.
“Mike is from Ohio originally, and has an impressive resumé–one that is going to push me and our program forward in ways that wouldn’t be accomplished if we hired a traditional college assistant coach,” Diebler said to the media in June.
“We came into this offseason and said, ‘How do we take this up a level?’… You look at the experience of Mike Wells at the highest level of basketball … that’s going to push me.”
The 56-year-old graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1988, where he played basketball – Diebler was only two years old at the time. He took his talents to Mount Vernon Nazarene University upon graduating, playing under the tutelage of head coach Scott Flemming.
Wells graduated from Mount Vernon Nazarene in 1993, but Flemming wasn’t quick to let him leave.
“(He) was the first guy who said, ‘Hey, what are you doing after graduation? Why don’t you think about coaching? I think you’d be good at it,'” Wells said.
Coaching fit Wells perfectly. He was off to the NBA less than a decade later, via his first job with the Houston Rockets in 1999, after five years as an intern with the team.
The Rockets were up and down during Wells’ tenure. Injuries to major stars hampered the team’s playoff hopes for his first four seasons. He then headed off to Los Angeles for a year.
Wells gained some of his most valuable coaching anecdotes in his single season with the Lakers, working with Kobe Bryant at the peak of his powers.
“(I can tell my players) I coached Kobe Bryant one year, and Kobe did it this way,” Wells said. “I don’t know if that will work for him, but I can at least tell him what another guy’s done.”
Wells left Los Angeles for San Antonio. He joined the Spurs at the tail end of a championship season and helped them win two more in 2007 and 2009. Two seasons with the Washington Wizards led Wells back to college basketball with George Mason and South Florida from 2011-14 before heading back to the NBA.
Wells had his longest job in the NBA with the Utah Jazz from 2014 to 2022, drafting and coaching current Cavaliers all-star Donovan Mitchell, before a final NBA stop in Charlotte with the Hornets in 2023.
With 30 years of coaching experience, Wells made a major jump, becoming the head coach of the Adelaide 36ers in Australia. It was his first head-coaching gig and his first job outside the country – not including his work as a scout for Team USA from 1998 to 2003.
It was a difficult change. Wells had roots in Utah, working with the Jazz for nearly a decade. His wife was a morning news anchor in Salt Lake City and had to retire to come with him to Australia.
Wells’ family still lives in Salt Lake City, and he and his wife own a house there.
The change gave Wells valuable experience, though, at the helm of his own operation for the first time in 30 years. It made him an atypical hire for Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler, who was looking to fill a new hole in his staff.
“He’s got experience in a general manager role, putting together a pro team. It’s very similar to what we’re trying to do here,” Diebler said. “Bringing in someone who thinks differently, who sees the game differently … is not only great for our program, but it’s going to push me, and I’m really excited about that.”
For Wells, it’s less atypical. He’s done everything there is to do as a coach and leader of a basketball team. His coaching experience almost spans his new boss’s entire life. Wells feels he’s exactly where he needs to be after all that time.
“It was a lifelong dream of mine to become a head coach, and I got to check that box in Australia,” Wells said. “The owner of the 36ers, Grant Kelly, gave me that opportunity, and that was a huge deal.
“All of my goals at Mount Vernon were to get to a high-major university, and my journey took me to the NBA. But somehow the NBA and Australia led me to a high-major team, and it just happens to be here in Ohio.”
Wells met Diebler through a mutual friend, Grand Canyon men’s basketball coach Bryce Drew. Drew was drafted to the Houston Rockets in 1998, the year before Wells went from intern to coach.
“(Drew) played college basketball at Valparaiso. Jake Diebler played college basketball at Valparaiso, then worked for Bryce Drew at Vanderbilt,” Wells said. “In basketball, you’re only really one person removed.”
Wells brings a skill set to Ohio State honed in every setting basketball has to offer, one predicated on offense and NBA experience.
“We’ve got some very talented guys who want to get to the NBA. I want to be able to assist them and help them on their journey, and let them know what they’re in for and what to expect,” Wells said. “That’s the reason why you want to come to Ohio State, and hopefully I can just be a sounding board and support them and let them know what’s expected and what it’s like to be a pro.”
At the forefront of the decision was the return home. Wells hasn’t lived in Ohio since setting off for the NBA, and the change has been just as surreal as any in his long, decorated career.
“I’ll be driving around Columbus, and I’m like … ‘Wait a minute, I actually live here. This is crazy,'” Wells said.
