John Glenn Coach Remembers Basketball Player Killed in Crash

Just two months from the start of a new season, a John Glenn High School coach is grieving the loss of a former basketball player killed in a Coshocton County crash.

Clay Sturtz, 18, of Coshocton died Tuesday evening in a two-vehicle crash on State Route 83 near Otsego.

The former basketball captain, who graduated last year, led the team to the regional semifinals in 2014.

"He was our emotional leader," said Greg Woodard, John Glenn boys basketball coach." He led vocally. He led by passion. When somebody was down, he’d pick em up. When Clay wasn’t on the floor, he was the biggest cheerleader on the bench. He impacted a lot of our kids with that attitude, that love and that toughness."

But Woodard says off the court, Sturtz was so much more.

"He was unique to say the least. He was a jokester," he said. "No matter what mood the locker room was in, he’d come in and he would lighten it up. He would bring so humor to whatever situation we were in. As a coach, there were times where I was extremely upset with the way things were going — whether it be practice or a game. He would just give me a little wink off to the side and kind of make you laugh and put things back into perspective a little bit."

Woodard says Sturtz’s passion for the game will live on through his players this season, which starts on December 9. The team will fight for a Muskingum Valley League title win in his memory.

"I know we’re gonna hear his name brought up a bunch– especially in tough times. You know, maybe times in practice when he was picking people up. I know there’s gonna be a lot of things that happen that make us remember him, and he will live through these young men."

Sturtz’s funeral service is scheduled for Saturday Oct. 25 at 12 p.m. at the Miller Funeral Home in Coshocton.