Ohio State And Dayton Men’s Basketball Teams To Play Exhibition Game For Charity

Ohio State will be headed to Dayton this October to play an exhibition game for charity.

The exhibition game will be played Sunday, October 22 at UD Arena, and the proceeds will benefit the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio.

This is a mission that is very personal to Dayton head coach Anthony Grant and his wife Chris, as they lost their daughter Jay last year at the age of 20 as a result of mental illness.

The game will surround several days of events concerning mental health, including a pair of town halls on Thursday, October 19 and Friday, October 20, that will also feature presentations from the Grants as they work to “bring purpose to the pain.”

“First, I want to express my deepest thanks and appreciation to Coach (Chris) Holtmann, Athletic Director Gene Smith, and the Ohio State community for participating in this special event,” Grant said in a university release. “They have been incredibly gracious partners and we’re thankful for their participation. More importantly, the game is a collaborative effort to help raise awareness, generate conversation, and increase access to mental health services in Ohio and throughout the country.”

“We look forward to partnering with Anthony and Dayton on this exhibition game at UD Arena,” Holtmann said. “Anthony’s willingness to share his family’s story in hopes of helping others is inspirational and we appreciate him including Ohio State in this event. We are excited that the proceeds will benefit the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and other local organizations.”

Tickets for the exhibition game will be offered as part of the Dayton season ticket package. Single game tickets will also go on sale at a later date, if available.

The town halls are free and open to the public.

Ohio State and Dayton have met just twice before — the first being a 74-63 OSU win in the NIT Tournament. The second was a 2014 NCAA Tournament game, where the 11-seeded Flyers defeated the 6-seeded Buckeyes 60-59 in a first-round matchup.

This exhibition game will replace OSU’s annual “secret scrimmage” against a similar regional opponent. The Buckeyes will still have their annual exhibition home game in early November against a lower-division program as well.

[Header photo courtesy of the Toledo Blade.]

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