Diana Noles

Biography

Hall of Famer and 2004 graduate Diana (Esterkamp) Noles enters her seventh season as the head women's basketball coach at her alma mater in 2025-26, following seven previously as the program's full-time lead assistant. Noles led the Cardinals to within one possession of the OAC Tournament Championship game in 2022-23, as her squad dropped a tough 52-51 semifinal contest at top seed and eventual champion Ohio Northern. A native of Cincinnati, Noles returned to coaching in the summer of 2012 after taking the previous three years (2008-11) away from the game to start a family. She served as a volunteer assistant for Otterbein during the 2005-06 season before going on to coach two years at Division II Ohio Dominican University (2006-08). Her Cardinals earned the No. 2 seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Tournament during a pandemic-shortened season. That team finished with an 8-5 record, upsetting nationally-ranked and eventual champion John Carroll in the regular-season finale. A 3x All-OAC performer, Noles is the program's career leader in assists (674) and also ranks among the top 11 all-time in scoring, rebounding, and steals. She is the only Otterbein women's basketball player to compile over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. Noles, who had two triple-doubles as a player and ranked top-five nationally in assists three different seasons, finished off her career with an All-American selection in 2004 after guiding the Cardinals to their first 20-win season and