Still sweaty after hours of playing basketball, kids raised their hands with questions for five Kansas University basketball players as part of the Isaiah Ott Basketball Clinic on Saturday at Lawrence High School. While questions like “How tall are you?” and “What’s your favorite basketball shoe?” were asked, the conversation also addressed the topic of finding support when experiencing difficult emotions.

The students, in grades fourth through eighth, were participants in a free suicide prevention basketball clinic in honor of Isaiah Ott, a Lawrence teen who committed suicide in June 2013.

Former Kansas University basketball player Aaron Miles and Isaiah’s father, Elwood Ott, coordinated the event. Ott said the goal of the clinic was to raise awareness and also offer a different way to help a parent or child who might be in a similar situation.

“I wanted to use basketball as an avenue to reach the kids,” he said.

Ott said Isaiah, who would have been graduating this month, had wanted to one day host his own basketball camp. Hosting the clinic, which about 65 kids attended, was a way to accomplish that goal for his son.

“As a parent, we want to fulfill all our kid’s wants and needs, and this was the last one I could fulfill for him,” Ott said.

Playmakers 4.0, a basketball program founded by Miles, and the USD 497 Native American Student Services sponsored the event. In addition to basketball drills, participants rotated between informational sessions with Headquarters Counseling Center and USD 497 social workers.

“It’s getting kids talking about suicide, because it’s really a taboo subject,” said Jose Cornejo, USD 497 social worker.

The sessions encouraged kids to go to a counselor or a trusted adult to help them with their emotions, Cornejo said. Headquarters Director of Counseling Services Kristin Vernon told kids about the center’s 24/7 crisis support and also distributed cards they can give to adults if they don’t know how to ask for help.

After the clinic, participants lined up to get autographs and take photographs with the five KU basketball players: Wayne Selden Jr., Devonte Graham, Landen Lucas, Evan Manning and Jamari Traylor.

Ott said about half of the participants were from Lawrence schools, with the others coming from nearby communities and reservations. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Kansans between the ages of 15 and 24, according to the 2013 Kansas Annual Summary of Vital Statistics. The highest suicide rates nationally are among Native Americans, according to the CDC.

Jennifer Attocknie, director of NASS, said there are about 565 native students in Lawrence schools and the event was a way to be proactive about suicide prevention and emotional health.

“If kids have something to be passionate about, be it basketball or another activity, they have a reason to be engaged,” Attocknie said.