Standing at half court during halftime of Ohio State men’s basketball’s exhibition against Butler last weekend, former Buckeyes and Bulldogs coach Thad Matta shared a heartwarming yet emotional story with the crowd.
"Maybe the greatest thing I’ve seen in my coaching career happened a few weeks ago,"Matta said.
"A few weeks ago, James Sullinger donated his kidney to his former teammate, Terence Dials."The moment drew a strong reaction from those in attendance, highlighting a remarkable act of friendship and brotherhood between two former teammates.
Speaking with
Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch — part of the USA TODAY Network — Sullinger said giving his kidney to his former teammate and friend felt like something he "was supposed to do," should he have become a match.
"Words don’t really do it justice, so when I tell you I knew I was going to do this, it just doesn’t hit for me the way it should," Sullinger said. "The best way for me to explain this is Terence has always been a brother to me. My dad calls him (his) No. 4 (son). It’s always been like that. This just solidifies it. I don’t like taking the credit because I just feel like this is something I was supposed to do. If I was able to do it, I was going to do it.
"I’m just grateful that I was able to do it."
Dials was placed on the national transplant list in the summer of 2025 after his Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) got low enough to warrant it. Two weeks later, Sullinger was identified as a match, though there were additional steps for the former Buckeyes guard to be cleared for the actual surgical procedure.
"I just remember J.J. being like, 'I want to do this,'" Dials told The Dispatch. "He was like the first one to jump at it. I had two immediate matches with my brother (Michael) and J.J. That’s how the process started with us."
To be cleared for surgery, Sullinger said he had to stop drinking alcohol and improve his blood pressure and heart rate as tests showed he was prediabetic while his blood pressure "was high enough that he was forced to make some lifestyle changes in an effort to get to a place where he could be deemed healthy enough to donate."
He was cleared in September and broke the news to Dials in person at the Schottenstein Center, as Dials serves as the Buckeyes' program’s recruiting coordinator. The surgery took place on Oct. 12 at University of Cincinnati Hospital and lasted five hours.
Dials is still home recovering from his transplant surgery — where he's allowed to walk around his neighborhood but also includes reporting his blood pressure, temperature and weight multiple times and not being in contact with those under 14 due to his immune system being compromised — and hopes to return to the program in December, according to The Dispatch.
"The real hero of this story is J.J.," Dials said. "I’m just the recipient. He’s the one who had a selfless act. This is the most selfless act you can do. If anything, he’s the hero in this, and I want him to get all the accolades and praise because this is what he deserves. He did not have to do it, and he did. Thank him.
"Words aren’t enough for what he did for me."
Ohio State kicks off the season against No. 25 BYU on Monday, Nov. 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Ohio State teammates share unbreakable bond through kidney donation
