The Ohio State basketball team got a much-needed win over Indiana at home Saturday. It was another sign that the Buckeye basketball team has started to figure some things out after a midseason swoon. Two wins in a row and suddenly OSU is moving further away from bubble territory. It had to feel good for head coach Chris Holmann.
But that’s not what he wanted to talk about as he sat down in the postgame press conference. Instead, he went right into the reaction of guard D.J. Carton’s decision to take time away from the program to focus on his mental health. And it was a long statement right out of the gate. One in which Holtmann seemed intent on delivering.
“I want to begin here by thanking our fans for their support of D.J. in his pursuit of mental health, overall health,” Holtmann said. “The wide, vast majority of our fans I know are so unbelievably supportive of him in that — and I just want to thank our fan base for that. For the rare few that tweeted at me this is somehow the reflection of our program, reflection on me personally — guilty, guilty. So be it. You can take your antiquated thinking somewhere else.”
Holtmann then continued to explain the emphasis his program and Ohio State in general, will put on the players’ health and well-being going forward.
“There is nothing, nothing more important in our program than our players’ physical, mental health and overall growth,” said Holtmann. “Nothing. And that will always be the case. There’s not a game — there’s nothing. And if it’s somehow a reflection, I think we all know that’s wrong. I really appreciate the overall kind of overwhelming support for a young man in his pursuit of this, and I know he does too.”
“Our staff here, our medical staff, this university is comprehensive in its care of our players physical and mental. Comprehensive. I’ve never seen anything like it. I think we’re on the cutting edge in a lot of ways in terms of our staffing, our willingness to deal with our players’ issues, and it’s a day and age where we see this more and more, particularly in this age group and particularly with student-athletes.”
Here’s Holtmann addressing the situation head-on. You can watch yourself thanks to the Big Ten Network’s Twitter feed.
"We're going to support this kid. We believe that's the best thing to do."
Chris Holtmann fully supports DJ Carton stepping away to address his mental health, and calls out those who have questioned the @OhioStateHoops freshman. pic.twitter.com/MW6B7QtbKj
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 1, 2020
You tell ’em Chris. It’s so refreshing in today’s day and age for a coach and athletic department to be so supportive of a kid that was brave enough to put himself out there, knowing the stigma attached to doing such a thing by a high-profile male athlete.
I have to say, though I haven’t covered Ohio State athletics as long as other colleagues, I’ve never been more proud to be associated with the OSU program, albeit as just someone that writes stories that don’t mean nearly as much as what we’re talking about here.
And for that minority group Holtmann is talking about that sees this as a negative — shame on you. Shame on your win at all costs judgemental attitudes. If you’ve lived with mental illness (as I have and currently still do), you know that it can be a very dark place. It can also come out of nowhere for seemingly no reason.
The bottom line is that we should all applaud how Holtmann and Ohio State have handled a young man in need. We wish Carton well and so should you. If he makes it back on the court soon, then great. If not, there are things more important, such as life itself.
Get better Carton, and good on you Ohio State for putting more emphasis on helping a young man who needs embracing as opposed to the alternative.