The Basketball Buckeyes have an important game at Maryland Saturday but basketball is the furthest thing from their mind. Ohio State coach Thad Matta announced Friday that two team members are with their families dealing with separate emergencies.
Sophomore point guard JaQuan Lyle is home in Evansville, Indiana where his 19-year old sister recently gave birth but is dealing with complications and "is not doing well at all," according to Matta. Bates-Diop traveled back to Peoria, Illinois to be with his 16-year old brother who collapsed during a basketball practice Thursday. Kai Bates-Diop suffered a heart attack and was revived by a trainer.
"It's been a rough 24 hours for our program," an emotional Matta said. "What's hard is...these guys are your kids. You hate to see them going through this with family members at their age."
Matta said the players have been communicating with Lyle and Bates-Diop through text messages since the two emergencies occurred and admits it will be a challenge getting the Buckeyes ready for the 4 p.m. tip-off Saturday at Maryland.
"There's no manual--in terms of a coaching manual--for stuff like this," Matta said. "But we've got a job to do and we've got to get ourselves ready to do it. Obviously that's stuff that's very important to us as it should be and we'll roll from there."
To see more of Matta's comments on the situations, click here for the link.