Former UVA Athletes Reveal Mental Health Battles in Student-Produced Documentary

“What sticks about Greer’s story is you can be perfectly fine and then stuff can just come out of nowhere,” Castagne said of Gill, who was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament performer in 2019. “She was seemingly fine, she’s at the top of her game, killing it in the ACC, and then COVID hits and she can’t even play anymore because she’s hurting her body, physically, so much.

“I think that exemplifies the point that it can be anyone,” Castagne continued. “Anyone can struggle with this, and it can come at any point. For those three [UVA] athletes, that’s what sticks out – how you can be at the top of your game and it can all come crashing down. “

Hultzen, among the best pitchers in UVA history, was at his peak in 2011 after being selected second overall in the Major League Baseball draft by the Seattle Mariners. A couple major shoulder surgeries, however, derailed his professional career. He made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2019, but retired before the 2021 season with only six big-league appearances on his record.

Castagne and Nilson spent a weekend with Hultzen in Chicago, learning that the former All-American collegiate fought hard with the lofty expectations of being a touted prospect from the moment he left Grounds.

“Because I was drafted higher than I thought, I was tremendously insecure about myself,” Hultzen said in the documentary. “I tried to prove myself and be something more than I was. All of that started to crash down pretty quickly, because it manifested itself in my arm. ”