‘A lot of heartache, a lot of pain;’ UD basketball coach speaks publicly about daughter’s death

Jayda Grant died nearly a year ago at 20 years old.

Her father, Anthony Grant, University of Dayton Men’s Basketball head coach, recently shared her story to raise awareness for mental health issues.

Jayda was the main focus of Anthony’s 75-minute interview with Tony Coder, executive director of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

Anthony said he first noticed Jayda’s struggle with mental health at the start of the pandemic.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: University of Dayton announces death of Jayda Grant, daughter of basketball HC Anthony Grant

He believes a combination of the pandemic and an injury Jayda suffered in high school, which took her away from Track and Field at UD, isolated her form her friends.

“I say it was kind of a perfect storm that all hit at the same time. As parents, we really didn’t see that coming. Certainly, you look back, just trying to to navigate it, and there’s guilt and there’s obviously a lot of heartache and a lot of pain,” Anthony said.

Anthony also talked about his own challenges with mental health as a player and coach.

The full 75-minute interview can be watched here.

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