Ohio State Forward Kyle Young Sidelined With Vestibular Dysfunction, No Timetable For Return

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann announced during his media availability on Friday afternoon that fifth-year senior forward Kyle Young has been sidelined for the last week and a half with a vestibular dysfunction.

"We don't see this as a long-term injury,” Holtmann said. “We also don't have a specific timeline right now for him to return."

According to the National Center for Biotechnical information, a vestibular dysfunction is a disturbance in the boy’s balance system due to peripheral or central causes. Symptoms typically consist of vertigo, nausea, vomiting and an intolerance to head motion, among other things.

“Kyle had a really good summer,” Holtmann said. “I thought he played some of the best (basketball) that I’ve seen from him. It might have bothered him, but he didn’t really notice it bothering him significantly until later in the fall.”

The 6-foot-8 and 225-pound Young has averaged 6.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 108 career games with the Buckeyes. With him sidelined, the Buckeyes will have to rely more upon small-ball lineups or Indiana center transfer Joey Brunk to have more of a presence inside this season, which begins on Nov. 9 against Akron.

“He’s had about everything that could come a kid’s way here in five years, for sure,” Holtmann said of Young, who missed four games during his sophomore season with a stress fracture in his right leg and four games last year with two separate concussions. “He’s in good spirits now that it’s been diagnosed and that he’s showing improvement. It was really hard for him when he was kind of wondering, but now that he’s on some meds and showing improvement, he’s in really good spirits.”

Additionally, Holtmann announced that sixth-year senior forward Seth Towns continues to rehab from offseason back surgery, which was initially expected to sideline him for three to four months.

“He’s just now beginning to return to some conditioning activities – literally today, actually – so we anticipate that he’s on track,” Holtmann said. “At what point he’ll return, it’s too early to tell.”