Thad Matta Accuses Unnamed Team of Telling Recruit He Was Dying

Ohio State men's basketball head coach Thad Matta revealed to reporters Tuesday that another school told a player he was recruiting that Matta was dying, according to Kyle Boone of CBS Sports:

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"Somebody told a recruit I was dying," Matta said Tuesday. "Swear to god. Not that my foot didn't lift, but that I was going to die. It's a tough business I'm in here."

That's a new level of negative recruiting. Apparently, Matta said, the recruit's father told him about that pitch from an opposing school because the player was going to hold a press conference which they chose to delay because of Matta's health.

Matta insisted Tuesday that he's feeling good, and that a negative recruiting pitch from other schools about his health has been used against him "for the last eight years."

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You can see Matta's full comments below:

Gaining a recruiting edge by claiming an opposing coach's death is imminent is hardly a new tactic, unfortunately. In 2013, Texas A&M head coach Billy Kennedy—who has early-stage Parkinson's disease—spoke out against the practice after guard Alex Robinson revealed opposing coaches had told him Kennedy might not make it through his four years at the school.

"It angers me when people tell recruits I may not coach much longer because it's coming from people who don't really know me," Kennedy said at the time, per Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports. "... I learned a long time ago all is fair in love, war and recruiting, so I'm not surprised people would bring up something about my health. There are some insecure assistants in high-profile programs that do whatever they have to do to get a player. But that's not the norm. I don't think most people are that way."

In 2012, former college basketball coach Steve Lavin said schools used his recovery from prostate cancer against him during recruiting as well.

As for Matta, the Buckeyes head coach has dealt with lingering back issues throughout his tenure at Ohio State, per Boone, though they're seemingly not life-threatening. After reaching the NCAA tournament for seven straight seasons under Matta, however, the team is in danger of missing March Madness for the second consecutive year.

At this point, that seems to be a bigger concern for the Ohio State program than Matta's back issues.