IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 59
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BY BRIAN NEUBERT
BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com
ELIDA, Ohio — Some players are said to "live in the
gym."
In Dakota Mathias' case, the gym lives with him.
Ever since he was a kid, the Purdue signee's enjoyed a
literal home-court advantage few of his peers can match:
A basketball court actually built into his Northeast Ohio
home, an amenity of convenience that just happens to jibe
perfectly with the 6-foot-5 shooting guard's passion for
working at, and studying, basketball.
It was around 2002 when Mathias' father, Dan, and
friend Mark Long hatched the idea while playing pick-up
games at church, on
the very court Long
had built into the
building.
But what began
as something of a
joke, the notion of
Mathias adding an
actual gym to his
house, turned out
to seem reasonable,
manageable and
worthwhile.
And so it became
reality: An addi-
tion to the Mathias
home, connected by
sliding doors, with
a 26-foot ceiling at
its highest point,
44 feet wide and
26 feet deep, to ac-
commodate a three-
point arc all the way
around. It's a full
honest-to-goodness half court, equipped not with hard-
wood floors, but one of the next best things, plastic Sport
Court tiling.
The room's heated in the winters, sound-proofed and
everything. Purdue flags now hang on its walls.
"I was worried when we first did it," Dan Mathias said,
"because I was worried about the kids not using it."
It was a valid concern at the time. Renovations, after all,
are permanent.
But looking back, Dan Mathias has to laugh over that
short-lived thought.
His oldest sons, Dustin and Bo, used the gym plenty.
His youngest, Dakota, has had to be barred from it.
More than once.
"I'd wear myself out in there," Dakota Mathias said, "so
Work At Home
p r e s e n t s b a s k e t b a l l r e c r u i t i n g : D A K O T A M A T H I A S
Purdue signee's countless hours pay off
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1600 South Creasy Lane
Lafayette, IN 47905
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Fort Wayne Subaru
5000 Illinois Road
Fort Wayne, IN 47905
260-432-4567
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Buy Subaru
and keep
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Lafayette, Indiana
built 2012
Subaru Legacy
Brian Neubert
Dakota Mathias has made himself into
the player he is today with his tireless
work ethic and intense passion for
basketball.
