Ohio State's Evan Mahaffey preparing for Penn State as father awaits heart transplant
At any minute now, Evan Mahaffey could get a phone call that will have him hightailing it to Nashville.
As the Cincinnati native has helped Ohio State prepare to face Penn State, his former team, Mahaffey’s father, Jamie, is at Vanderbilt University Medical Center awaiting a heart transplant after having battled heart-related issues for several years. Meanwhile, his middle child, Evan, remains with the Buckeyes, trying to focus on the things he can control without worrying too much about the things he can’t.
“He’s doing good, but any day (the transplant) could happen,” Mahaffey told The Dispatch before Friday’s practice. “Thank you to everybody that’s supporting or sending money or just praying. That means more to me and my family than you know.”
As Jamie Mahaffey awaits a life-saving donation, a GoFundMe page has been established to help with the costs with his left ventricular assist device (LVAD) as well as his ongoing wait for a heart transplant.
The goal is to raise $100,000, and several of his Ohio State teammates are listed as having contributed including Jamison Battle, Roddy Gayle Jr., Zed Key and former Ohio State associate head coach and current Ohio University coach Jeff Boals.
“That means the world,” Mahaffey said. “Coming in as a transfer, finding your niche with the team, I effortlessly clicked into this team and it makes it way easier that you have these guys around me. Knowing how much they support me and care, it’s amazing. They could just say, ‘We’re praying for you,’ and that would be enough, but they wanted to give money and I love them for it.”
You can view the page and make a donation by clicking here.
A four-year player at Miami (Ohio) from 1991-95, Jamie Mahaffey averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Redhawks. As a senior, he averaged a career-high 12.6 points and 8.7 rebounds for a team that went 23-7, won the Mid-American Conference regular-season title and knocked off No. 5 seed Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia.
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When his playing career ended, Mahaffey got into coaching and led North College Hill to three straight Division III state titles from 2005-07 while coaching the likes of OJ Mayo and Bill Walker. The family has a photo of dad holding 2-year-old Evan Mahaffey while cutting down a net inside Value City Arena.
Evan Mahaffey said during the spring that his decision to transfer from Penn State to Ohio State was in part driven by a need to be closer to his family.
“Being able to get home and see my brother play in high school and being able to see my mom and dad, I know there’s some stuff going on health-wise that might have hindered them from coming up to see me in State College,” he told The Dispatch in May. “Being able to come down and make it easier on them and I can get home as well.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: As father awaits transplant, Evan Mahaffey keeping focus on Ohio State
