Buckskin86
Moderator
Walk-ons Danny Peters and Mark Titus have different reasons for wanting to be bench fixtures
Thursday, December 24, 2009
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
GREAT SEATS: Ohio State's Danny Peters, left, and Mark Titus, middle, enjoy their familiar view from the bench as the Buckeyes played Cleveland State on Tuesday in Value City Arena. (Chris Russell, Dispatch)
When their Senior Night arrives in March, Danny Peters and Mark Titus could share one Ohio State men's basketball record.
Along with Jamar Butler and Matt Terwilliger, they will have won more games than any other player in the history of the program.
(Insert laughter here.)
"There's (a sign) in our locker room that says, 'Don't ride the coattails of others' successes,'" Peters said with a smile. "But I have no problem with that at all."
More accurately, should they gain the record, Peters and Titus will have watched more wins than any other player in the history of the program.
Seniors who play only in the final minutes (or seconds) of games long decided, they have been on teams that have won 91 games in a little more than three seasons. The record is 104 by Butler and Terwilliger.
Peters and Titus have played in 29 games during that time, totaling 83 minutes.
It is uncommon for walk-ons to stay on a team for four years, coach Thad Matta said. The time commitment is the same but the rewards are not what they are for their teammates on full scholarship.
So why stay?
Each had a different reason.
Peters wants to coach college basketball like his father, Dan, a former Ohio State assistant now at Akron. There is no better way to prepare than to be in "the belly of the beast," said Alan Major, an OSU assistant who started as a Purdue student manager.
Rather than play at a smaller college, Peters joined the Ohio State program as a student manager in 2005. He was added to the roster the next season when the team was short of guards for practice. He hopes to find a job as a graduate assistant coach after he graduates in June.
Titus was added at the same time as Peters. He, too, had joined the program as a manager, quit, then was recalled to play. A native of Brownsburg, Ind., he rode the coattails of Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. to Ohio State after playing on an AAU team with them. An offer to play at Harvard fell through, and Titus was not interested in a lower-tier college experience.
"When I was getting recruited, pretty much everyone I talked to told me that when you pick a school, you should pick one that, if you broke your leg the day your parents dropped you off on campus and you could never play again, would you be happy at that school?" he said.
GameDay+