COLUMBUS, Ohio – As Ohio State makes a push for success and consistency on the court, Chris Holtmann and the rest of the team made one thing very clear outside the lines: they are a family.

While a record can define a team and a stat line can define a player, the person that puts on a jersey cannot be defined by his play within the game of basketball. On Thursday, DJ Carton, who was in the midst of an impactful freshman season on the court, reminded everyone that the game of basketball will never supersede life, and his teammates and coaches have supported his stance that the person comes before the athlete.

“There is nothing -- nothing -- more important in our program than our players' physical, mental health and overall growth,” Holtmann said. “Nothing. And that will always be the case. There's not a game. There's nothing.”

Carton announced to the team that he needed to step away in order to focus and work on mental health issues that had been plaguing him for a few years now. Holtmann was unwilling to give a timetable on his return.

While the news was shocking to those outside the team, Holtmann cited Carton’s honesty all year as a reason why the decision did not shock the team.

“It was sudden, but a team is a pretty intimate setting, right. So, you know, in most cases, what guys are going through,” Holtmann said. “And DJ has been very vulnerable with his teammates and sharing his concerns for a while now. Or sharing the things he's working through for a while now. So while his departure was sudden, I don't know that it came as a great surprise. He shared with the team on Thursday, thought he was very honest with them. They embraced him both literally and figuratively. And we did as a group, and we moved on to practice on Thursday.”

It is the players that are responsible for buying into and creating the family atmosphere, and there is no doubt that Carton is part of that family. Kaleb Wesson emphasized the togetherness of the team and how Carton would be supported even if he was not there with them.

“I just feel like it tributes to our family atmosphere. I feel like we got closer as a group,” Wesson said. “Everybody's reaching out to DJ right now seeing how he's doing and letting him know that we respect his decision [and] that we love him, whatever he does.”

Carton was just coming off of a great performance against Northwestern, and his impact on the season was great for a freshman. While the outside world could see only a young player having success and opportunity on the court, Carton was battling issues and life off of it.

There is no magical elixir for fixing mental health issues, and in this day and age, it is becoming more and more apparent that mental struggles do not discriminate and can affect anyone.

“I think the fact that he had played so well in recent stretches, perhaps made people wonder, you know why now,” Holtmann said on the timing of Carton’s decision. “Listen, he's a 19-year-old young man going through all the things that that come with being a highly recruited young man, and expectations and also the normal struggles that you and I have, who are not in our players' position, the day to day struggles that we go through are real. All right, these things are real.”

After hearing the news, Holtmann noted that his first phone call was to athletic director Gene Smith. Holtmann talked highly of Smith, who was primarily focused on how he and Ohio State could help Carton going forward.

It is a supportive and selfless community that can truly help an individual like Carton, and it all begins with the people in the highest positions. According to Holtmann, there is debate about whether or not Smith cares about his players.

“I've got definitely what I think is the most supportive, knowledgeable, experienced and best AD in the country,” Holtmann said on Smith. “So the guy that I lean on to get my advice when it comes to this is very keyed into this in Gene Smith. And he's really put things in place here to make sure our guys are aware that they have the support that they need. And I know that also comes from our league office. I've not had direct conversations, but I know that comes from them.”

While support is valuable, there needs to be things put in place to help as well, and Ohio State does not lack the resources. Holtmann has been on the coaching staff at five other universities, and he praised Ohio State’s ability to be on the forefront with player support and care.

“Our staff here, our medical staff, this University is comprehensive in its care of our players,” Holtmann said. “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 and 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.”

The ways of the past are seemingly dead. The idea of toughness and manliness are evolving, and players like Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan have helped increase the comfortability and commonality of talking about mental health issues.

The conversation itself is what Holtmann deemed as the most crucial factor in eliminating the stigma around mental health. Holtmann, who talked about seeing a therapist himself, emphasized the importance of talking about the issues and not keeping them in the shadows.

“We talk about it. It's real life stuff,” Holtmann said. “It's real life stuff. And I think that's the only way to eliminate any type of stigma. That's it. That's it. It's real life stuff. And we're about the real life stuff with our players.”

The Buckeyes will continue to play games without Carton, but that does not mean he is no longer a member of the family. Carton was able to make the right decision for himself, and the support and love that has followed may inspire the next person who is struggling to seek the help he or she needs.

“I think it's brave on his part, and it's what needed to happen,” Holtmann said. “There's nothing more important, so I thought it was a brave move on his part and fully supported by us. And I'm sure there'll be others in the future.”