For fans of college basketball, the most a non-student usually knows about a player are the stats, moments in a game or the occasional social media video showing a rare behind the scenes moment. However, have a teammate talk about that person and the gravity of the response tells you the importance of not only a basketball player but a person on a team. On Ohio State women’s basketball, that player was guard Chance Gray.
On Monday afternoon, with Notre Dame up 16 points, head coach Kevin McGuff substituted Gray out 41 seconds left in the Buckeye senior’s career. It is a bittersweet moment because on one hand, a player wants to be on the court until the end to try and win but on the other hand, the commitment to a team, fanbase and school is worth celebrating.
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Gray was not one to show her sadness on the court. Emotion normally came in the form of a scream after a basket and earned trip to the foul line to make it a three-point play. Monday was different. As Gray headed to the scorer’s table to step off a college basketball court as a player for the last time, sophomore point guard got in her way with an extended hug. When the Cincinnati, Ohio native walked to the bench, tears began and continued through the playing of Carmen, Ohio, side-by-side with her teammates. What Gray meant to this edition of the Buckeyes is easy to see when her teammates talk about the two-year Buckeye. For Jaloni Cambridge, Gray meant everything.
“She’s a great leader. She led us through getting to where we were both the two years that she was here. I wouldn’t trade the world for playing with her,” Cambridge told reporters in the only press conference answer the obviously upset guard gave that went beyond a partial sentence or two. The connection between the two guards who played next to each other in every game Cambridge started for the last two seasons was real. “I would do it again in every lifetime if I get a chance. I love her to death.”
Where Ohio State landed in the last two seasons were NCAA Tournament’s Second Round games at home that both ended with Buckeye disappointment. Last season, Gray was a new member of Ohio State after the McDonald’s High School All-American left her home to play two years with the Oregon Ducks on the other side of the country. On the court, Gray had a quiet junior season behind freshman star Jaloni Cambridge and then Buckeye forward Cotie McMahon. The 2025-26 season was different.
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The offseason was not overly kind to the Buckeyes with the transfer of McMahon and graduation for multiple team veterans, including Big Ten All-Defensive Team guard/forward Taylor Thierry. That turnover turned into an AP preseason poll without Ohio State listed for the first time since 2019. While conference voters placed them at No. 5 in the preseason poll, nationally there were real questions around how the Buckeyes would perform with two returning starters and an 11-player roster with only three upperclassmen and five total returning players.
On the court, Gray was the veteran leadership, playing in her fourth season of starting NCAA basketball.
“[Gray] just led us,” sophomore guard Ava Watson told Land-Grant Holy Land. “I’ve learned a lot from her, personally, just being in the same position as her, and we’re gonna miss her a lot. She brought a lot to the team.”
That quiet 24-25 offensive performance for Gray also became a distant memory after the Buckeye coaching staff gave the senior more room to play her game. Instead of a player waiting for a pass on the wing or corner for a three, Gray had an open court.
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Through that freedom, Gray had a career season with 14.7 points per game on 45.3% shooting and 40.5% three-point efficiency. Gray also hit more three-point shots than last year when that was practically the guard’s key focus in the Ohio State offense.
It says a lot for an athlete who never once came into a game as a bench player. All 134 games under Oregon coach Kelly Graves and Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff were in the starting lineup. Gray’s name was written with permanent ink, another telltale sign of a players importance beyond basketball productivity.
“On the court, [Gray’s] a great player,” McGuff told reporters. “As much as anything though, off the court, she’s been a great leader. She’s been incredible in the locker room. She’s been great in the community, just a really high character person that we’re going to really miss.”
When Gray was not on the court, in the locker room or class, the guard gave back to the community through her WHERE2NEXT non-profit. The organization gives back to the Cincinnati, Ohio kids. Alongside her older sister, and former Xavier player under McGuff, Amber Gray, WHERE2NEXT provides resources to families and opportunities to play basketball. In December, Chance Gray brought her work to Columbus when she partnered with Raisin Canes to give out 100 bikes to local children.
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Good game or bad game on the court, Gray was the same off of it. For such a young team, that kind of stability was important as the Buckeyes grew over the season. Against the Fighting Irish, who had six seniors and one junior step up and leverage their expertise on Monday, it was a quiet ending to both the Ohio State season and Gray’s career, but the guard went out with at least one silver lining of a final season that built relationships and allowed Gray to enjoy basketball.
“Yeah, this is like my best fun season of basketball,” Gray said after the Monday loss. “Really happy and glad that this is how I ended my career.”
For all but one Division I team, this moment is not new or specific to Gray. Part of the college basketball experience that does not get as much attention as the nationally televised games, NIL deals and adoring fandom is the life lesson of important moments in life coming to an end. When fans see or hear Gray’s name in the future though, the guard wants people to think of the positives.
“Just that I had fun on the court,” Gray said. “Was able to bring a lot of joy and fun to people watching basketball.”
