Ohio State freshman point guard DJ Carton has now been gone from the program for 20 days while he tends to his mental health and well being.
The Buckeyes have rallied together in his absence and won four of their last five games. Their next contest, however, will be their toughest since his departure.
Ohio State plays at No. 20 Iowa Thursday night and given that Carton is a native Iowan there was some speculation from outside the program that this might be a spot for his return, or perhaps just his attendance.
Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann shot that down on Wednesday while speaking to reporters.
“No. I think there’s a lot that has to happen before that’s even in the conversation,” he said. “Medically and in terms of overall health. That’s not even been a consideration.”
Currently, Carton’s health is the priority. His return is secondary. Right now the goal is simply getting him back to good health and then down the road making sure he’s ready for the process of returning to the basketball program should he want to.
“When a player is pulled away for medical reasons – specifically mental health, there is very specific and extended protocols that goes into that,” Holtmann said. “And it’s to protect the player. It’s pretty extensive. That’s about as much as I can say on that.”
While Holtmann wasn’t interested in getting into everything that needs to take place, it’s easy to imagine the lengths. And that’s just the medical side of things. Then there’s also the basketball side of things, like conditioning, timing, feel, etc.
But none of that is the concern at the moment.
“I would say that as it pertains to him, I am hopeful that we can get him on a path towards improved health,” Holtmann said. “That’s the only priority. Obviously, we’re late in the season, so you can draw your own conclusions on that. It’s late in the year and he’s been away for a while.
“But if and when he returns, there’s a lot that goes into it. When you leave for medical reasons there’s a lot that goes into being in any way acclimated back, really even outside of our hands, acclimated back to any type of organized activity.”
