OSU situation is tough on Mathis, too
Former UT assistant on O'Brien's staff will likely have to go

By RON MUSSELMAN
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

Article published Wednesday, June 23, 2004

COLUMBUS - Ohio State assistant basketball coach Monte Mathis has had a hard time sleeping the last two weeks.

And he hasn't had much of an appetite.

It's understandable.

Mathis' coaching career and future were turned upside down on June 8 when Jim O'Brien - the man who hired him - was fired as the Buckeyes' boss for giving $6,000 to a recruit who never enrolled at the university.

Mathis, a former University of Toledo assistant, learned of his predicament just six days after celebrating his 37th birthday.

He and the rest of the Ohio State staff - interim coach Rick Boyages, assistant LaMonta Stone, director of basketball operations Randy Shrout and video coordinator David Egelhoff - still report for work every day, but it hasn't been easy.

Mathis figures the minute athletic director Andy Geiger finds a permanent replacement for O'Brien, he'll probably be gone, along with the rest of the assistants.

"It's an awkward situation because of my loyalty to coach O'Brien, but also my loyalty to Ohio State," Mathis said yesterday. "I want to stay at Ohio State real bad. I am an Ohio guy. I was born and raised in Cincinnati. I've been a college coach in the state of Ohio for the last eight seasons.

"The Midwest is what I know best. I have a lot of contacts in the state and have worked with a lot of the high school coaches and AAU programs. I am doing everything I can to stay at Ohio State.

"Realistically, the chances

may not be very good. I can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

The NCAA is investigating O'Brien's admitted 1999 rules violation, which occurred one year before Mathis' arrival, and other allegations of wrongdoing specified in a lawsuit filed by former nanny Kathleen Salyers.

The Buckeyes' program will likely face NCAA sanctions.

"I wasn't at Ohio State when everything that's in question, the allegations, were taking place. I was at Toledo," said Mathis, who recently completed his fourth year on the Ohio State staff. "It's a very strange situation. My job is in jeopardy over something I had nothing to do with."

Mathis remains close to O'Brien and has spoken to his former boss quite often since his dismissal.

"He's doing good," Mathis said. "It's a tough situation for him, but he'll get through it. He's dealing with quite a few emotions right now. There are people who still believe in him, and support him. He'll be OK."

Mathis first learned of O'Brien's firing 10 minutes after showing two incoming prized recruits - Jamar Butler, Ohio's Mr. Basketball, and Matt Terwilliger - and their families around campus during freshman orientation.

"Of course, I didn't believe it," he said. "I didn't know what to think. It was like a bomb went off. Everything I've worked for in the last 10 years as a coach - wanting to get a good job at a place like Ohio State - all of a sudden was vanishing before my eyes."

Butler and Terwilliger are already enrolled in summer school, as is another player Mathis recruited - Jermyl Jackson-Wilson. A fourth recruit, junior college transfer Je'Kel Foster, is expected to arrive on campus next month.

"To think you may not have the opportunity to spend the next few years coaching most of the guys you recruited, it hurts a little bit," Mathis said.

On Monday, Mathis, Boyages and Stone began contacting about 40 prospective recruits in the class of 2005. They're explaining the Buckeyes' coaching situation to them and addressing their questions and concerns.

Summer evaluation of recruits begins on July 8, but Geiger has said he does not feel any pressure to hire a coach before then.

"We're doing everything we can in the basketball office to help Ohio State and the basketball program," Mathis said. "We're doing what's expected of us, being that we're still employees of Ohio State and the athletic department."

Mathis, whose father Mike was a long-time NBA official, was elevated to assistant coach at OSU in 2001-02 by O'Brien after serving as the team's video coordinator. His primary duties with the Buckeyes include recruiting and on-the-court coaching, with an emphasis on working with front-court players. He also served as coordinator of O'Brien's summer camps during his first two seasons.

Before coming to Ohio State, Mathis was an assistant under Stan Joplin at Toledo for four years. He also was an assistant for one season each at South Alabama and McNeese State.

Mathis played baseball and was a reserve guard on the Kansas basketball team that reached the Final Four in 1986. He later transferred to Toledo, where he played baseball and basketball in 1988 and 1989. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from UT in 1991, he played professional baseball for three seasons in the minor leagues.

He will be on the move again.