DaytonDailyNews.com

UPPER SANDUSKY — Each Sunday, Jon Diebler slides into Upper Sandusky High School, the partly teal, 46-year-old building that contains a basketball gym lovingly nicknamed "The Barn."

With workout partner Claire Aubry, herself a standout basketball player, Diebler will shoot. He makes layups, NBA-sized 3-pointers and goes through dribbling drills near the rolled-up stands for which there's a season-ticket waiting list 50 gawkers deep.

There are no chants that he's a ball hog or a daddy's boy. No autograph seekers in The Barn.

"That's my comfort zone," Diebler said.

Diebler certainly seems at home near a basketball hoop. A 6-foot-7 senior point guard, he has become the state's career scoring leader in three seasons at Upper Sandusky following a prolific freshman season at Fostoria High. This season, as the Division II Rams have built a 19-3 record, he has averaged 42.3 points, 13.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 5.1 steals and 4.7 blocks.

Despite his success, though, he is more Rick Mount than O.J. Mayo — a player whose exploits have become coffee shop talk, not ESPN fodder. In this rural town of 6,455 residents about 40 miles east of Interstate 75 on U.S. 30, they know him because there are no secrets at Woody's, the Pour House or the Steer Barn.

But outside of Upper Sandusky, he is mostly known through one-sentence passages in newspapers, which tell readers he has scored 60 points or 47 points or 69 points in leading 10th-ranked Upper Sandusky to its second Northern Ohio League title in 42 years (both have come in the past three seasons, since father Keith took the head coaching job).

In many places, he is more myth than the smiling, friendly, 18-year-old who was so worried when he earned his first speeding ticket a year ago (68 in a 55) that he telephoned Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta to express his concern.

He still has a scholarship waiting in Columbus, where beginning next season many will see him for the first time and take in a player whose basketball accomplishments have been the stuff of blue oxen in central Ohio.

"Before the Internet and television and cable, the players were mostly unknown," said Jay Burson, whose 22-year-old record of 2,958 career points Diebler broke on Feb. 23 (Diebler currently stands at 3,036). "Not everyone saw Bob Cousy play, just heard about what he did. You still have that at the high school level, at least for now.

"And Jon, I think, is the best example of a high school hero."

The real Jon

Jacob Diebler, the second of Keith's three sons who helped lead Upper Sandusky to the Division II state title in 2005, is sometimes asked about Jon at Valparaiso University, where he recently completed his sophomore basketball season.

"There's not a more deserving person of the attention and the praise," Jacob said. "For the people who see all the points he scores, I think they would appreciate him even more if they got to know him."

Jon Diebler is tall and thin with no particular hairstyle. He's friendly and polite, bites his nails and, once you get to know him, usually instigates the teasing with friends. He often slaps people on the arm or the back as a greeting or goodbye.

"He's goofy," said Aubry, a junior. "And normal."

He enjoys kitchen-table games of gin rummy with his family, including oldest brother Jeremiah. A DVD nut like his father, Diebler likes the Gladiators and Bravehearts of cinema.

That's fitting. In both movies, the main characters were men who morphed into tall tales. That, in a way, could describe Diebler's career, from the day he scored 49 points as a Fostoria freshman.

Since, many have known his name but not his characteristics, such as skin color, height and ability. Many fans imagine Wilt Chamberlain with Cousy's ball-handling playing 1-on-5.

Instead, he's an aggressive 6-7 with too-skinny arms and a passion for taking care of his sneakers.

"You'd think he would stand out from everyone," said Alex Falk, an Upper Sandusky sophomore starter. "But, he's just a regular guy."

Larger than life

On Wednesday afternoon, as Upper Sandusky players filtered in from the end of school, they munched on Subway and watched highlights from the 2004-05 state championship season.

The locker room's amenities don't match the rural charm of the basketball gym.

"When I played little league, my dad was my coach," Keith Diebler said. "He told me, 'If you're a coach, no matter what kinds of players you have, you have to make them feel like the New York Yankees. Give them nice things and a great place to work.'

"So each senior class has to do something to add to this."

It's almost Jon's time, although he has already done plenty for this high school not far from his father's hometown of Bucyrus. Upper Sandusky filled The Barn past capacity in every game with a waiting list for those trying to get in.

Seven minutes before Wednesday's district semifinal against Clyde High School at Ashland University, fans squeezing into the sold-out space of 3,000 seats faced an announcement asking them to push closer together.

"We've had people calling from Kentucky, from Michigan, Pennsylvania, interested in tickets," said Brad Ehrman, the Upper Sandusky athletic director. "I've had people ask me for tickets in church, drive-through in McDonald's. I don't answer my phone at home."

Upper Sandusky is five wins from a state championship, which could cap one of the best prep careers in Ohio history on one of the most entertaining teams to watch.

The Rams average 95 points per game while concentrating on pressure defense. They sometimes allow wide-open layups, but they get their share of turnovers (Clyde had 40 on Wednesday) and turn those into quick baskets.

Diebler finished with 41 points in Upper Sandusky's 99-78 victory on 14 of 26 shooting (3-for-10 from 3-point range) and 12-for-14 on free throws. It was an average game for Ohio's best-ever prep scorer in front of a crowd that jeered him before holding out caps and shirts to autograph.

"I've never seen him before," said Jerry Holland, a 32-year-old Clyde fan. "He's skinner than I thought."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.