A former Ohio State basketball player has given his former teammate the gift of a kidney, in a story shared with the crowd at halftime of Ohio State’s exhibition against Butler last weekend and reported by Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network. Former coach Thad Matta told the crowd at the Schottenstein Center that James Sullinger donated a kidney to Terence Dials a few weeks ago, calling it, in Matta’s words as reported by The Columbus Dispatch, maybe the greatest thing he had seen in his coaching career.
Dials was placed on the national transplant list in the summer of 2025 after his kidney function, measured by his glomerular filtration rate, fell low enough to warrant a transplant, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s reporting. Two weeks later, Sullinger was identified as a match, though additional steps were still required before the former Buckeyes guard could be cleared for surgery.
Speaking with Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, Sullinger said giving his kidney to his former teammate felt like something he was supposed to do. Sullinger told The Columbus Dispatch that Terence has always been a brother to him, that his father calls Dials his fourth son, and that he does not like taking credit because, in his words to The Columbus Dispatch, if he was able to do it, he was going to do it.
Getting cleared took work on Sullinger’s own health. According to The Columbus Dispatch’s reporting, Sullinger had to stop drinking alcohol and improve his blood pressure and heart rate after tests showed he was prediabetic and his blood pressure was high enough that lifestyle changes were required before 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, where Dials serves as the Buckeyes’ recruiting coordinator.
The surgery took place on Oct. 12 at the University of Cincinnati Hospital and lasted five hours, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Dials told The Columbus Dispatch that J.J. was the first one to jump at the chance, and that he had two immediate matches, his brother Michael and Sullinger. Dials is still recovering at home, walking his neighborhood and reporting his blood pressure, temperature and weight multiple times a day while avoiding contact with children under 14 because his immune system is compromised, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
Dials hopes to return to the Ohio State program in December, according to The Columbus Dispatch. In comments reported by The Columbus Dispatch, Dials called Sullinger the real hero of the story, saying he was just the recipient and that Sullinger’s was the most selfless act a person can do. Ohio State opens its regular season against No. 25 BYU on Monday, Nov. 2.
For Buckeye fans, the story lands as a reminder that the bonds formed on a college roster can outlast the games themselves by decades. Two teammates who once shared a locker room now share something far rarer, and both men, by their own accounts to The Columbus Dispatch, see the other’s part in it as the remarkable one.
Photo: Cbusram, CC BY-SA