DJ Carton taking time away for personal reasons
- Thread starter Colonel Homer
- Start date
I commend him for having the strength to say that publicly.
DJ Carton has my respect. It takes a lot of strength to talk about mental health issues, most people feel ashamed and don't speak about it.
Transition from highschool to college is HARD for many. I don't know how these D1 athletes jump right in like he has. They have so much going on and are under a microscope.
Props to him for taking care of himself 1st and being open and honest with his team.
Props to him for taking care of himself 1st and being open and honest with his team.
"mental health issues" is a vague description but I don't fault him for not giving more info. In fact, his public statement is a sign of bravery mainly because, regrettably, treatment for mental health has a negative association for a large segment of the general public. Best wishes to DJ and I'm hoping he is back in uniform real soon.
Refreshing to read a classy thread and genuine posts wishing DJ the best instead of some BS trolls chiming in about him picking OSU over Iowa.
Wishing the young man all the best. So many things are bigger than basketball. Hope to see him back competing on the court and winning in life.
This is a good point that I don't think gets talked about often enough. College isn't easy for everyone - between living away from home for the first time and taking more difficult classes, many struggle to adjust. I think the transition for basketball players has to be about the most difficult of any sport.
For example, true freshmen regularly shoulder a lot of responsibility on their teams (whereas most football players redshirt or have limited roles). Additionally, the season spans both the fall and spring semesters, whereas many other sports only have an active season during one semester. Finally, the amount of travel basketball players have during the school week can make it difficult to stay on track academically. Iowa basketball played on the east coast last night, and likely were on their way home in the early hours of the morning today.
Some of these kids are only 17, 18, or 19 years old and they instantly become highly visible people on campus, shoulder a lot of responsibility for their team, and then also need to deal with academic challenges (not just maintaining grades, but deciding what classes they want to take). There's a lot of people that get overburdened simply trying to decide what to major in - which is a big decision as it will have a big impact on the rest of your life.
All this said, it's understandable that DJ may need to take a breather to feel like he can "catch up" with his life. And frankly, it's kind of surprising that isn't more common. I imagine the same struggle is there for many players, but most probably feel too uncomfortable to acknowledge and address it.
Spot on. I can't imagine the rigors of college basketball on top of being far away from my family. When I went to college, I was only four hours from home and that felt like 1,000 miles.
So much strain on millennials these days, what with such an uncertain future in the world. Add on the stress of having to compete in a sport at such a high level and it surprises me that more kids aren't struggling. Good Luck to DJ. Hope he gets it all figured out.
I honestly don't think it's that much different from previous generations, in terms of people having mental health issues. The big difference now is that people get diagnosed and properly treated far more often and the stigma related to it is FINALLY going away.
I'm old enough to remember vividly, in the Army, that you didn't mentioned, talk about or seek help for any mental issues if you wanted to stay in. It's still that way in many commands, but it's nowhere near the death sentence for a career it used to be. Hopefully, in 20-30 years that stigma will be completely gone.
Keep in mind, I say this having a daughter that has dealt with massive anxiety and depression issues, which haven't exactly helped in now being a college athlete. I really hope more people will follow Carton's lead, or someone like Lyndsey Fennelly (ne Medders), and get the help they need and let people know it's perfectly fine to do so.
I'll only believe this if PartyHawk420 confirms.
It does make you wonder if Chris Holtman and staff were too hard on the kid and he just couldn’t take it. Sometimes it is better to give someone an arm around their shoulders than to scream at them and kick them in the butt. I have no idea if this could be true but it makes you wonder if he is in the environment he needs to succeed. He has all the talent in the world and he needs a coach who can support him.
Hey hooper, I don't know a thing about Holtman. Is he known for a hardcore approach?
I am not totally sure but I thought he had the reputation of being a pretty tough hard nosed coach.
I think the curse of social media puts a LOT more stress on kids today. You didn't used to have random, anonymous people telling you, in front of the world, how worthless, or great, you are, depending on your latest game.
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lots of college kids have difficulty dealing with the stress of college. i think the pressures are much greater than when i was a student. add to that the demands of playing college basketball at a high level and you must really need to have your head straight to deal with everything. i think its an aspect of college sports that most of us dont appreciate. i hope he is given the space to work this out and the best of luck to him.
He said he had mental health issues for a couple of years. Might be a generalized statement to not lay all the impact on OSU. I was surprised he went there and to play for Holtmann. Maybe this decision is not helping. Will be interesting to see what transpires.
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