He may have been a walk-on during his days on the court with the Ohio State Buckeyes, but if anyone knows Thad Matta better than most, it’s Mark Titus.
Titus, the Brownsburg native, has exploded with popularity for his work in the media world on his podcast Titus & Tate. Titus is now also with Fox Sports and has traveled through the Hoosier state during the NCAA Tournament for all kinds of content.
The legendary @ClubTrillion on Twitter was also kind enough to jump on The Fan Morning Show with Jeff Rickard and Big Joe Staysniak on Friday. The guys asked Mark about his time with Matta at Ohio State and how his advisory role on the Indiana Athletic Staff will benefit the Hoosiers and Mike Woodson.
“Coach Matta is one of the great all time human beings and basketball coaches,” Titus said. “Having Thad involved in anything is a home run and slam dunk. This is a perfect role for him. I know he wants to coach and be involved, but it took a toll on him. The moment the Ohio State stuff went down with him, he always wanted to coach in Indiana.”
Here’s the big thing though. Matta is not officially an assistant coach.
He will advise Woodson while working with Athletic Director Scott Dolson.
Nonetheless, imagine being an IU player and pretty much having anytime Thad office hours to go to. Not too shabby.
Titus also got into the firing of Archie Miller. He really had the full experience during his time at Ohio State not only with Matta, but at that time Miller was also an OSU assistant coach. Titus told the guys he thought Archie’s personality would fit a mold like Indiana.
“I wasn’t a real player at Ohio State,” Titus said. “Most of the coaches didn’t care how good or bad I was at practice drills because it didn’t matter if I got better. Archie was the one coach who treated me like an All-American. When it came my turn to run the drill, he would yell at me and push me. Archie is awesome. But he’s not exactly warm.”
With the news today that Trayce Jackson-Davis is returning to Bloomington for this junior year, that puts even more pressure on Woodson to win in year number one.
We’re only in April. But by the time we get to October, this is going to be very compelling to watch.
Tune into The Fan Morning Show weekdays from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM.
