Ohio State's Chris Holtmann chokes up after emotional charity exhibition at Dayton
DAYTON – The seconds stretched on as Chris Holtmann searched for the right words. Or maybe the composure to be able to say them. Either way, the meaning of the moment was not lost on the Ohio State men’s basketball coach as he sat in the postgame interview room at Dayton’s UD Arena on Sunday evening.
Moments earlier, the Buckeyes had taken care of the on-court business with a 78-70 win in a game that at times accurately reflected both the date on the calendar and the meaning of the event. In the first Ohio State road game against the Flyers since Holtmann was a high school basketball player, the Buckeyes made the trip at the behest of Dayton coach Anthony Grant as the centerpiece of a weekend geared for raising money and awareness for mental-health causes.
Grant and his wife, Chris, lost their daughter, Jayda, in May, 2022. She took her own life after struggling with mental health issues following the COVID-19 pandemic, and after Holtmann accepted Grant’s invitation to play a charity exhibition game the Flyers were able to raise more than $500,000 for the cause.
It occasionally made dissecting the intricacies of the game feel a little gauche, and as he sought his way through an opening statement Holtmann trailed off.
“I just have such tremendous respect for Anthony and Chris and the courage they’ve shown throughout what has to be an immeasurably difficult time these last couple years,” Holtmann said. “There are so many things that are bigger …”
Then he cleared his throat. Tried to continue. Cleared his throat again. Looked downward at his hands. For 43 seconds, Holtmann sat at the interview table, gathering himself as best he could before continuing.
“You know, I think as you get older you realize there’s so many things that are bigger than what you do,” the coach said. “If we could in some way play a part in any type of healing or certainly raising money for what is a tremendous cause around the spotlight and cause Anthony and Chris have started, we’re glad to do that. We’re grateful to do that. We were grateful to be asked to do it.”
From the event’s inception, both sides were clear in their public messaging that this would not be treated like a standard basketball game. Dayton’s administration repeatedly asked for fans to treat the Buckeyes as participants in a charity event, not heated rivals that a sold-out crowd has waited nearly 35 years to see come to town.
The message was received. Dayton’s fans didn’t necessarily cheer for the Buckeyes, but they certainly didn’t boo or jeer, either. When the Flyers hit shots or forced turnovers, they cheered. Before the game, the student section held up a sign that read, “THANK YOU BUCKEYES” with a green ribbon, the symbol for mental health awareness. It was noticed by the Buckeyes, and Holtmann made a point to cite the sign in his remarks.
Fifth-year senior Jamison Battle, who began his career at George Washington and played against the Flyers for two seasons, was familiar with Grant from their shared time in the Atlantic 10 and said he appreciated the opportunity to play in a game to raise awareness for something that athletes are just now starting to feel comfortable speaking about.
“The biggest thing you take away is mental health matters,” he said. “A lot of athletes, people look at them as athletes and not just regular people. The biggest thing for us is don’t be afraid to speak up.”
Battle pointed to his own mental health struggles last season at Minnesota, where he dealt with injury and a second consecutive losing season at his hometown university. Sophomore guard Bruce Thornton, who along with Battle went to midcourt as team captains before the game, began his press conference by pointing out that this game was played for mental health reasons.
“Mental health is everything,” Thornton went on to say. “When you’re not there mentally, it’s hard to live life at its fullest. Life is short. I feel like having that mental, having somebody to talk to, having something outside of the game that you can do, like a hobby, that can put you at ease. Having that extra space where you can do what you want and feel free and talk to somebody, I feel like that helps your mental.”
The fact that Thornton, Battle and Holtmann said what they said was what Grant said he hoped for when he made the call to ask the Buckeyes to participate.
“It may make a difference for one person one family, and so I'm grateful for that,” he said. “The ability for us to have a conversation around mental health and hopefully reduce some of the stigmas that are associated with it that unfortunately have existed for a long time.
“(Holtmann’s) willingness to be a part of this speaks volumes to who he is and, and his heart for, you know, his players and his community and his family and all of that. That's really what it is at the end of the day.”
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dayton game leaves Ohio State's Chris Holtmann searching for words
