COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — He is one of the biggest stars in the NBA: Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star and leading scorer.

This season, the Cavs aren’t the only basketball team he’s impacting.  

“He wanted to invest some into the women’s game, especially in Ohio, being a Cleveland player,” Pickerington Central girls basketball coach Johnathan Hedgepeth said. “I think we are the first team to have Donovan Mitchell jerseys with the spider on them.” 

Before this season, Hedgepeth wanted to work out a sponsorship for the Lady Tigers to help out with the cost of gear. He reached out to Adidas, who works with his AAU team, and as it worked out, Mitchell was looking for a girls’ team in Ohio to support.  

“When your team and your families don’t have to worry about the financial hardship, I think it alleviates a lot of pressure, but it also speaks volumes to your program that someone’s willing to invest and believe in you,” Hedgepeth said.  

Then came the gear: shoes, shirts, practice jerseys and game jerseys – the shoes all Donovan Mitchell issue and the clothes all marked with Mitchell’s logo, a small spider. 

“I feel like it just shows how much, like, women’s basketball has changed over the past couple of years,” Pickerington Central junior Blossom Wallace said. “How like men are supporting women and it’s just really great.” 

While Mitchell and the Cavs went on their amazing run in the NBA this season, the Lady Tigers went on a run of their own, winning 19 straight games and the OHSAA Division-I State Championship.  

Then, at their community celebration on April 9, when they’d already received the trophies, street signs and every congratulation possible, they got one more: a video from Mitchell himself.  

“What’s up y’all, it’s Donovan Mitchell,” he said in the video. “Just want to say congratulations on winning your eighth state title. That’s historic. Continue to do what you guys have been doing. Really proud of you guys. Continue to keep banding together. Going from number nine next year. I promise you at some point I’m going to try to catch a game. But wanted to say congratulations, continue to keep going, and go for that ninth one next year.” 

“We were literally wondering, like, does he know we won state?” Pickerington Central senior Rylee Bess said after the ceremony. “And then when we turned our head and looked at the TV, we were like, ‘Oh my God! That’s Donovan Mitchell!’ And it was really crazy like that, he acknowledged us and like he sees us.” 

“I’ve been to a Cavs game, I’ve watched him play,” Pickerington Central senior Faith King said. “And then for him to like, say specifically like talking to us, it wasn’t just a general video, it was him actually talking to us, congratulating us for our accomplishments. Like that was really nice.” 

“The girls take pride in representing whatever brand they wear so I think it’s a pride thing that we, to keep this, we have to continue to win and represent Donovan Mitchell the best way we can,” Hedgepeth said.