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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 45 of his ongoing sickness. And he still was by- passed for playing time? Hadn't he sacrificed? Hadn't he spent his whole life to get here, to earn a scholar- ship at a Big Ten program, to be playing at the highest level of college basket- ball? He was sup- posed to be living his dream. But it felt any- thing but. "I just wasn't enjoying my- self like I knew I should, like I had before, my whole life," Mathias says now, looking back. "I talked to other people and they're (saying), 'You need to relax a little bit. It's fun. It's basketball.' There was just a point where I real- ized, I'm not having fun doing this. Why am I not having fun? This is what I've worked for my whole life." Mathias knew he had to change. He was dwelling on the negative too much. He was too worried about proving himself and impress- ing teammates and coaches. Did they really know how good he could be, with him being beaten down by illness and injury? He was quickly offended, even if the intent of criticism was constructive. He had to find the joy again. He knew, for him, in part that meant getting more time on the court. As a freshman and sophomore, Mathias tech- nically played a lot of games — 69, even starting 22 — but he rarely played considerable stretches of time, averaging less than 20 minutes per game over those seasons. So at the end of his sophomore season, Mathias had a meeting with Coach Matt Painter and asked what he had to do to play more. Painter answered with a list and though it in- cluded several things — get in better shape, sprint more, etc. — one stuck: Become a better defender. Especially with Rapheal Davis leaving, Purdue needed someone to fill the void of guarding the opposing team's top perimeter threat. At that moment, Mathias resolved it would be him. "I took that to heart. It paid off last year," Mathis says, almost matter-of-factly. When there was nothing matter-of-fact about his de- fensive transformation, the last element added to his game to truly make him a complete player. Painter called Mathi- as' defensive develop- ment a "shock." Teammate P.J. Thomp- son used the same word. Assistant coach Greg Gary called Mathias' defense "non-existent" when he arrived at Pur- due. Mathias admits his first glance then at the box score was his point total, his shooting percentage. Though he nev- er defined himself as only a shooter — he's always been so much more with a mature pulse to his game, growing up as coach's kid, and has been a fantastic facilitator on offense — Mathias said the criticism of his defense was warranted. But he's also always been a perfectionist, so as soon as Painter verbalized what would get Mathias on the floor, it was a done deal. "He's just determined, really focused on what he needs to do," Gary said. "He asked, 'What do I need to do?' And you give him exactly what he needs to do and, boy, he's going to do it. There's no question in my mind he's going to do it. "A lot of people said he wouldn't (be a good defender). He can prove a lot of people wrong. He's done it. Even up to this point. The recruiting process, there were a lot of (coaches) who thought he would be over his level here. We saw a lot of good things in him. He's always had that edge to him. It's just who he is. Nothing wrong with that. That's why he's been successful because he keeps continuing to prove people wrong." Photos by Tom Campbell (defense, dribble, shot); Purdue (pass)