Over 21 years, mostly at Ohio State, former Buckeyes coach Thad Matta accumulated 502 career wins, reached two Final Fours and one national championship game. He won a bunch of regular-season and conference tournament titles. But when Matta talks about his time as a coach, he doesn't focus on his accomplishments.
So, it was no surprise that he used a ceremony honoring him on Oct. 25 to laud two of his former players instead.
“Maybe the greatest thing I’ve seen in my coaching career happened a few weeks ago,” Matta told the crowd during halftime of OSU’s exhibition game against Butler. “A few weeks ago, James (J.J.) Sullinger gave his kidney to his teammate, Terence Dials.”
Standing off to Matta’s left at the Schottenstein Center, Sullinger was
embraced by Barbara Matta, Thad’s wife, while Sullinger struggled to hold in his emotions.
A Central Ohio product, Sullinger played his freshman season at Arkansas in 2001-02 before transferring back to Ohio State, sitting out the next year to satisfy the rules of the time and then playing for the Buckeyes for three seasons. For all four years Sullinger was at Ohio State, Dials was his teammate.
Dials, who is now on staff as coach Jake Diebler’s recruiting coordinator, underwent the procedure Oct. 12 and is making steady progress in his recovery.
After hugging Matta’s wife, Sullinger was embraced by his former coach whose Ohio State tenure began in 2004-05 and lasted for 13 seasons.
“That is what coaching is about, building the friendships and the trust these guys have,” Matta said. “College basketball has changed. I don’t know if these current players are ever going to get to experience what these guys had – the camaraderie and all the great moments that we shared.”
Matta’s recognition featured a video showcasing former players sending their best wishes. Then Matta was presented with a commemorative basketball celebrating his career. For about three minutes, he spoke to the Ohio State crowd.
“I’ve been wanting to say this: O-H,” he said, prompting the announced crowd of 6,996 to reply, “I-O.”
Matta took in the game from almost the exact same vantage point as he did while leading the Buckeyes. He sat in the courtside seating that has been installed at the arena since his departure and was right next to the Ohio State bench with a good view of his former staff member Jake Diebler, who is now head coach for the Buckeyes.
“It’s funny how many times I saw myself in him with what he was doing and what he was saying,” Matta told The Dispatch after Ohio State’s 82-73 win. “It was special to sit in those seats.”
Diebler has been pushing for years for Matta to return to the program. After Matta retired following the 2025-26 season, Diebler invited Matta to visit campus during the summer for Ohio State’s annual “Vet Week,” which is when former players come back to work out and spend time with the current team. Matta wound up staying for two days.
When the Buckeyes scheduled the Bulldogs, the other program Matta is most closely associated with, they decided it made sense to honor him as well.
“It’s always amazing to come back in here,” Matta said. “You start to go through your mind all the incredible memories and moments that I was able to enjoy here. Columbus, 13 years, this is home. We raised our kids here. It was special for myself and our family.”
After the game ended, a group of former players stuck around to spend time on the floor with Matta and his family. At least half an hour after the last fans had filed their way out, many of the former Buckeyes were still there holding court with the former coach.
“I’m so proud of what we built here and how we built it, probably most importantly,” he said. “One thing I’ve learned about coaching: When you’re done, everybody forgets. Nobody cares. From that perspective, it felt like coming home today. Walking into the arena and sitting in the seats where I coached for 13 years was really special.”
Sitting there, watching Ohio State and Butler play, Matta said he realized that he knew he was right in his decision to retire so that he could enjoying “coming to a game like this and hoping both teams play well.”
It also meant he could take the time to celebrate two special teammates amid a group of former Buckeyes.
“I’m humbled to say 502 wins,” he said. “I never scored a point, I never got a rebound. It’s these guys right here behind me.”
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardyor on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: In Ohio State return, Thad Matta lauds JJ Sullinger kidney donation to Terence Dials
