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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 48 er would make a halftime switch and put Mathias on him, often to good results. Mathias is this guy now: When he looks at the statistics after a game, his eyes go immediate- ly to the shooting percentage of the guy he was guarding. "That's definitely something I never thought I'd look at in a box score," he said laughing, "but now I do. Now, who- ever I match up against, I always look at that first. That's al- ways a big challenge to me. That's exciting. If I see they're 4-for-13 or 3-for-9 or something, I like that. "A lot of guys can just sit back and say, 'No, I'm not go- ing to do that. I'm a scorer. I do that.' Being able to take that and swallow your own pride," Mathias said, laughing, "swallow it almost, and then move on and learn from it and say, 'I've got to improve this to help the team and to play,' I think that's definitely a maturity thing as well." Especially because those numbers affirm the work. Mathias' defensive improvement may be most indica- tive of who he is as a player: Someone with doggedness to improve, an unrelenting work ethic as it relates to prepa- ration and a stubbornness that, at times, serves him well. "He's extremely competitive. I think that's why he watch- es so much film," Thompson said. "Obviously, he doesn't want to get scored on, but he's just extremely competitive to the point where he's like, 'I'm better than this shooting guard. I don't want him scoring on me. He's not going to be the star at the end of the game. It's going to be me locking him up.' I think you need that. Who is selfish on the defen- sive end? How can you get in trouble with that?" Mathias is not without quirks. He's had to mature in more ways than the physical. He's had to try to relax more, not dwell as much and not put so much pressure on himself. Because, as he learned, all of that can inhibit production. Gary has had multiple conversations with Mathias about all of those issues — he said Mathias "worries about ev- erything" — and he's seen progress in many. "He had to clear his mind of not trying to be a perfec- tionist and not trying to do the right thing all the time. With him, it's such a mental thing," Gary said. "It was hard for him to let go of him making mistakes, not being able to show the coaches or other people, 'Man, I can really play.' When you start thinking about those things, you're not thinking about the right things. You're not giving yourself completely to the team. Even though he's an unbelievably team-oriented guy, he didn't allow himself to fully commit to the team because he was worried about other things. That doesn't make you selfish, but he wouldn't let those things go. "He did unbelievable (with that) last year. His confi- dence has increased. I saw a big difference this year, the fact that he just kind of lets things go a little bit easier. Not 100 percent, but he still, when the game is over, practice is over, it's still in his mind. But he's able to kind of put it to the side and still do his job and do it at a high level." Mathias likely never will shake that perfectionist im- pulse. But he's realizing it can help him, not only hurt. So he's working to find that balance, an area that he often has conversations with Thompson about. Thompson, too, is a coach's kid and grew up around basketball. That gives them a different sense about the game, as well as a differ- ent set of expectations. They're ultimately prepared play- ers, poring over film and opponents' tendencies, but that sometimes makes it harder to accept when a mistake is made. Often Mathias will turn to Thompson — one of his roommates, along with Tommy Luce and Grady Eifert — to pull him back after a mistake. Thompson will remind him it's OK, it happens, correct it and move forward. It's a message Mathias needs to continue to hear. "I think there's a happy medium there," Mathias said about not dwelling too much on things. "You still have to have that edge. You still have to come prepared and not give anybody an inch." And Mathias certainly won't do that. Especially not now that he's developed into such a well-rounded player that Thompson said he's a "pro." For now, though, Mathias just wants to finish strong. And many believe he will. "He does multiple things for you," Gary said. "He can score. He can pass. He can defend. So you're talking about three pretty good things — and he's done it at a high lev- el. He wants to do the right thing. He's so unselfish. He's improved really every part of his game. From his ballhan- dling, his driving, his shooting has always been really good but he even improved that. He's improving how quick he's getting it off. Because he knows he's playing against bet- ter athletes and they know he can really shoot. So they're going to be even closer to him, so now he's finding ways at working on getting his shot off quicker. I'm excited about his senior year because I think it's going to be the best one." j