Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Xavier basketball preview
New to XU, Matta trying to make mark
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Roster/Breakdown
Xavier recruiting
| Schedule |
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| November |
| Sat. 17 | Coastal Carolina | 7 p.m. |
| Sat. 24 | Missouri-&(64) | 8:20 p.m. |
| Wed. 28 | at Miami (64) | 7 p.m. |
| December |
| Sat. 1 | at San Francisco | 10 p.m. |
| Wed. 5 | at Purdue (64) | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 8 | Long Island | 7:30 p.m. |
| Mon. 10 | Wisconsin (64) | 7:30 p.m. |
| Fri. 14 | UC (ESPN) | 9 p.m. |
| Thu. 20 | Kent State | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 22 | at Creighton | 5:05 p.m. |
| Mon. 31 | Siena | 7 p.m. |
| January |
| Sat. 5 | at Dayton (FSN) | Noon |
| Wed. 9 | Fordham | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 12 | Richmond (FSN) | 2 p.m. |
| Thu. 17 | at GWash (FSN) | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 19 | at La Salle (FSN) | 4 p.m. |
| Wed. 23 | at R. Island | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 26 | Dayton (ESPN2) | 2 p.m. |
| Wed. 30 | Duquesne | 7:30 p.m. |
| February |
| Sat. 2 | at Richmond (64) | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 9 | at St. Bonav. (64) | 7 p.m. |
| Thu. 14 | GWash (64) | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat. 16 | St. Joe's (ESPN2) | 8 p.m. |
| Wed. 20 | at Temple (ESPN) | 8 p.m. |
| Sun. 24 | at Duquesne (FSN) | 2 p.m. |
| Thu. 28 | La Salle | 7:30 p.m. |
| March |
| Sat. 2 | UMass (ESPN) | Noon |
| Wed. 6 | A-10 Tourn. | TBA |
| Thu. 7 | A-10 Tourn. | TBA |
| Fri. 8 | A-10 Tourn. | TBA |
| Sat. 9 | A-10 Tourn. | TBA |
|
Home games in bold.
&-Wooden Invitational
|
Thad Matta is something of a Pied Piper. Believers follow the sound of his bouncing basketball.
He has yet to coach a game at Xavier, but in six months' time, the Musketeers have fallen in step. They dream sweet dreams and speak of Sweet 16s. “You want to give him 100 percent,” senior forward Kevin Frey said.
Still, after 16 years of constancy since Pete Gillen and Skip Prosser arrived on the same staff in 1985, there is suddenly a new face in charge, one that brings excitement but also uncertainty. Xavier fans may wonder: Who is this guy they've entrusted with the program? Is a 34-year-old with one season as a head coach qualified to take XU to the next level? And if he's successful, how long will he stay?
“From a cynic's side, what do you have to measure Thad on?” said Ralph Reiff, a radio analyst and former trainer at Butler, where Matta played and later coached. “Thad had a great year (24-8 last season) with a group of guys he inherited.
“If you're looking at it from a track record, Thad's got a lot of proving to do. It is to his credit that he has a following of people really based on (his) aspirations, pedigree and folklore.”
Reiff, Matta's friend, has known him since Matta arrived at Butler as a freshman 15 years ago. He has witnessed the contagious energy created by Matta's 16-hour work days and boundless enthusiasm.
Xavier is witnessing it already. Matta generally arrives at work at 5 a.m. to get on the treadmill. He cut short a family vacation to recruit. He slept on the couch in his office for a week. He oversaw Frey's ankle rehabilitation, jumping in the pool to motivate him during swimming exercises.
The inspiration-by-perspiration routine earns new disciples daily. “Thad will convince everyone around him, "We're on a journey to win a national championship,'” Reiff said.
Xavier would love to realistically join such a pursuit, and athletic director Mike Bobinski said this spring that XU could contend for a Final Four within the next few years. The ideal scenario might also include coaching stability in line with its history: Since Tay Baker took over in 1973, no XU coach has stayed fewer than six seasons.
That's where the questions come. Matta, the ninth-youngest head coach in Division I, jumped from one assistant's job to another — six in 10 seasons — before becoming Butler's head coach last season.
When Matta interviewed for the XU job, Butler AD John Parry said, “He needs to balance his loyalty to Butler and his players with his own career.” When Matta left his alma mater, the Butler faithful were stunned.
It certainly raised the question of whether Matta was a mercenary, seeing this job as a steppingstone to an elite program.
Such talk stings, according to Matta, who said he has never pursued other jobs but simply been sought out. Matta says he had planned on a longer tenure at Butler, but he had reached an impasse when discussing a contract extension with Parry, who said Matta needed more than one season to prove his coaching abilities.
“I felt I had a great year,” Matta said. “You start to ask yourself, "Am I this guy's guy?'”
Parry says he thought one season was a little quick to leave, “but, hey, more power to him.” Parry says one season wasn't enough to justify going from a four-year rollover contract to the seven-year rollover deal Matta wanted.
“I said I'll know in three (more) years if he can do the job; I guess he read that as me not expressing faith in him,” Parry said. “I think he took a group of players he had helped recruit and did a tremendous job with them. But they will eventually graduate, and you don't know what comes after that.”
Matta says his focus is on doing the best he can in the place he is. He describes his first half-year at XU as “phenomenal.”
“I'm as happy as I've ever been,” Matta said. “I believe this is a program where I'd love to coach as long as they'd have me.”
Turnover happens. There were 47 coaching changes in Division I this offseason, and there have been 258 in a five-year span. (There were 305 D-I schools five years ago and 324 now.)
But common goals could make Matta and the Musketeers a lasting fit. That's what Bobinski cited as the deciding factor in the hiring: His first meeting with Matta lasted five hours, and they were so much in sync, “We were finishing each other's sentences,” Bobinski said.
Said Reiff: “Thad Matta's aspirations are to win a national championship, plain and simple. So if he can win a national championship at Xavier, if he can have the right players and the support, he'll stay there a long time.
“He has great respect for your AD there. His longevity there is really tied to that relationship. That's all Thad talks about: "Ralph, Bobinski is awesome. He's enthusiastic; he's got a vision; he's right on target.' He motivates Thad.”
The choice of Matta mirrors a growing trend nationally toward young hires. In the past few years, for example, first-time hires have shown up at Missouri (Quin Snyder), Seton Hall (Tommy Amaker), Notre Dame (Matt Doherty), Marquette (Tom Crean), UNLV (Bill Bayno) and Mississippi State (Rick Stansbury).
And remember that when XU hired Prosser from Loyola (Md.), he had just one year of head coaching experience.
“You look for the best person you can possibly find,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said. “Would you pass on Mike Krzyzewski or Skip Prosser just because you're getting them first?”
Krzyzewski, Bob Knight and Dean Smith were all in their 20s or 30s when they got their shot.
“After spending a fair amount of time with Thad, it became clear that (age) wasn't an issue,” Bobinski said.
Terms of Matta's contract were not disclosed, but one source said it is for longer than five years. Bobinski said trying to guess how long Matta might stay didn't factor in his coaching search.
“If I were (Bobinski), my goal would be to have to take a baseball bat to beat suitors off my coach,” Bilas said. “He's had to do that before, and he'll have to do that again. That's a sign you've done a really good job.”
Matta describes the past six months as a blur. He assembled a coaching staff, then filled a five-man recruiting class by September. He has tried to meet often with players.
There are no promises for victory totals or championships in the Matta era. Only hard work.
“They say every coach is hired to be fired,” said Matta's father, Jim. “You'll never fire him for not working, I'll guarantee you that.”
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