For Matta, resting is rare
Ohio State coach gets most out of players, too
Sunday, April 25, 2010
By Mark Znidar
The Columbus Dispatch
The people who handle Thad Matta's dry cleaning can attest that he is one hard-working coach and not just a master recruiter.
At least twice a week during the basketball season, Matta will send two sweat-stained suits that he wears during Ohio State games out for cleaning.
"There's no question my dry cleaner likes me a lot," he said, laughing. "I give them a lot of business. I rotate the suits during the course of a season. Some guy once said I needed to buy a real expensive suit. I said, 'Have you ever seen me during a game?' I'd destroy the suit. There is an exhaustion point. I sometimes say I feel like I played in the game. I tell myself I'm going to slow down, but I can never do that."
Coaches in the state appreciated the perspiration from afar. Matta was voted The Dispatch men's Ohio college coach of the year for leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships and a 29-8 record that included two victories in the NCAA Tournament.
Matta, who has won the award four times in the past seven years, said he takes no offense to being labeled an outstanding recruiter.
"If you asked any college basketball coach about the most important part of the job, it's recruiting," he said. "You have to have players. Great coaches do that. What has been hard at Ohio State is that we've had a lot of turnover with early departures. Three of the last four years we've had to start over with so many new guys."