Chris Holtmann provides update on Kyle Young injury

Getting Kyle Young back was a huge boost for Ohio State against Loyola Chicago in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But he left the Round of 32 game against Villanova, and Chris Holtmann provided one final injury update on his radio show this week.

Young’s status for the first-round game was up in the air as he worked his way back from a concussion. He played a major role in the Buckeyes win over Loyola Chicago, but collided with Villanova’s Collin Gillespie in the next game and didn’t return.

On his final radio show on 97.1 The Fan on Monday, Holtmann provided a key update on Young’s health as the Buckeyes enter the offseason.

“Most importantly, Kyle’s health is fine,” Holtmann said, via Eleven Warriors’ Griffin Strom. “It was obviously the medical staff’s call to keep him out. They did some evaluating back in the tunnel. They had him run and do sprints in the back and get a feel based on how he was feeling. If there was any concern whatsoever, they were not gonna put him in.”

That’s great update considering Young was coming back from a previous concussion. Holtmann also put this collision into perspective and explained why it was different.

“It was not a Trevion Williams blow,” Holtmann said, referencing the star Purdue forward. “That was a significant elbow right to the side of the head, I believe, or maybe the back of the head. And we all know how big Trevion Williams is. That was brutal. It was not that at all.

“As he was running back after the score, he hit Gillespie’s shoulder. The side of his cheek hit Gillespie’s shoulder. I watched it on video a couple different times, obviously I don’t know how the face hitting the shoulder impacts things, I just know what he felt. He did not feel it the same way he had, as severe as he had, against Trevion Williams. Could he have played next week? That I don’t know.”

Young played a key role for Ohio State this year when he was in the lineup. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, which is why his return was so big in the NCAA Tournament. Against Loyola Chicago, he had nine points and seven rebounds in his return to the starting lineup. He had six points and six rebounds against Villanova before leaving the game.

Ohio State finished the 2021-22 season 20-12 overall and 12-8 in Big Ten action.