SG Mark Titus (official thread)

[CriticalSteve]

BrutusReport.com


The First Real Road Test


Freshman Guard Mark Titus was added to the Ohio State Men's Basketball roster prior to the start of the season. He gives us the inside story on Thad Matta, Greg Oden, and the upcoming road trip to Chapel Hill.
By Steve Patterson

Mark Titus came to Ohio State to earn a Bachelor?s Degree in Math in the honors program, continue on into Medical School, and work as a Student Manager on the basketball team. But with a limited number of scholarship players on the team, he was added to the roster in mid-November to help with practice and game time depth. You can image that he was excited to be a part of the Buckeye basketball team. 'The most memorable moment is when I came into the locker room for the first game and saw my jersey hanging in my locker. It was a great feeling to know that I am a part of something special.' He told us.

For that first game at home, Mark was able to experience a home game in front of a sold out Value City Arena. 'The atmosphere at the Schott is unbelievable. The arena looks and feels like an NBA arena, but we have college basketball fans that love Ohio State and cheer as loud as when we are up 35 with a minute left as they do when the game first starts. It definitely gives us a big advantage.'

Coming from Brownsburg, Indiana were he played both Basketball and Football, Mark fits in well with Coach Matta's fast past offense. He is a 6'4' Guard who led his team at Brownsburg High three seasons in scoring averaging 14 pts a game. The team does need improvement according to Mark but he is comfortable with the high early season ranking the Bucks have been given. 'The #4 ranking was not really that big of a surprise. We have very high expectations this year and we feel like on any given night we can compete with the best America has to offer. With that being said, we are far from being the team right now that we will be come March. Our goal is to just get better everyday and the rankings will take care of themselves.'

One of the reasons the team is so confident about their chances of success is the positive attitude Coach Matta brings to the University. 'I can honestly say that Coach Matta is the best coach in college basketball today. Not only does he know his X's and O's, but he is a player's coach in the sense that he makes the most boring and monotonous things about practice fun. He doesn't intimidate anybody by flaunting his position of power, but rather gives off an aura that we are in this together and no one person, including the coaches, comes before the team.' Mark relayed to us when we last contacted him. Not only Coach Matta but his highly talented assistant coaches add to the team's ability. 'All the coaches are involved in practice. All are very interactive and bring a lot to the table.'

Coming in the same year as the 2nd rated recruiting class of the 2006 recruiting period, Mark speaks highly of the 'Thad 5'. 'Even though I am one of the 'young guys', it's still been fun watching the other freshman embrace their roles on the team. It would really be unfair to name just one or two names, because all have made great strides.'

Of course the most highly anticipated player from the 2006 recruiting class has yet to take the floor in a Buckeye uniform. We asked Mark about Greg Oden and his rehabilitation. 'Greg is practicing more and more each day. The three biggest questions at OSU right now are 'Will Troy Smith win the Heisman?', 'Who will OSU play for the National Championship?', and 'When will Greg be back?' People ask me all the time when he will be back and the truth is nobody, including the doctors and him, really knows. Every time a date is set it gets moved back or moved up, so it's really just a day by day thing.'

The team has its biggest challenge yet coming in North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the 29th of November. North Carolina has reloaded after losing their top players to the NBA draft with the #1 recruiting class in the country in 2006. This road game could be the toughest test Ohio State will face before entering the Big 10 season. 'No doubt North Carolina will pose a lot of challenges for us. It will be our first real road test and it will be interesting to see how we handle it. The thing is that if we can go into Chapel Hill and do what we need to do amongst the adversity, we can go into any arena in America and take care of business there as well.'

With Greg Oden returning sometime in December or early January, the Buckeyes will make a run for the National Championship. 'I see us playing our best basketball heading into the tournament and letting the chips fall where they may. By the end of the season, we hope to make Ohio State a football AND basketball school.'

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Team manager earns spot on the floor with top-ranked Buckeyes
By Brent Glasgow
Hendricks County Flyer (Avon, Ind.)

AVON, Ind. ? While ?Rudy? has found a place as America?s feel-good story about a man achieving an improbable athletic dream, filmmakers may one day want to take a look at the ongoing story of former Brownsburg High School standout Mark Titus.

In a matter of a few weeks in his first semester at Ohio State University, Titus has gone from student, to basketball team manager, to earning a roster spot on the No. 1 team in the country.

?It?s been unbelievable,? Titus said. ?I?m just now starting to get over the awe of everything ? walking into the gym and looking around at all of the banners ? and just starting to play basketball. It?s been a wild ride and a lot of fun.?

While he didn?t have to toil in a steel mill for years and go through junior college like Dan Ruettiger, Titus? tale is compelling nonetheless.

The former Bulldog left Brownsburg eighth on the school?s all-time scoring list and was selected to play in a couple of all-star games, including the ?Hoosiers? ceremonial event in Knightstown. While he wanted to play basketball in college, the right fit just wasn?t there.

?Some of the schools that were interested in me, I wasn?t interested in them, and the ones I was interested in weren?t interested in me,? Titus said. ?It was kind of a mismatched thing. I didn?t want it to turn into me going to a school just to play basketball ? where I?m not happy and feel trapped. I wanted to make sure I picked a school that I liked.?

An honors student, Titus said he has always taken academics more seriously than athletics. When Ohio State came to him with a substantial amount of academic aid, the choice was made and his playing career seemingly ended.

Sweetening the deal in Columbus, Titus thought it would be fun to watch long-time friends Greg Oden and Mike Conley ? part of the Buckeyes? top-rated recruiting class ? first-hand. He said they?ve all known one another and played together in AAU ball since junior high.

Accepting that his playing days were history, Titus worked full-time during the summer at Clarian Hospital, playing just a few times in pickup games. But when he got to Columbus in late September, he realized he still had a jones for hoops. Subsequently, he paid a visit to Ohio State head coach Thad Matta and became one of the team?s 13 student managers, fulfilling such tasks as keeping water bottles full, filming practices, and taking stats. But because of his skill, he ran through drills and jumped in on scout team duty when called upon. He also took advantage of the team?s facilities, working out on his own after players had hit the showers.

?I wasn?t getting the fix I needed,? Titus said. ?Maybe if I hadn?t even been around it, I might?ve accepted it and moved on. But when I got a taste of it, I wanted more.?

Titus approached Matta about possibly walking on because he felt he could help the Buckeyes, who were short on manpower. Because Matta had seen him play in the AAU circuit while recruiting Oden and Conley, the coach knew what he had in Titus and promptly called to tell him he?d soon be wearing his familiar No. 34.

?When we?re looking to add players to our team, the No. 1 thing I?m looking at is who they are as a person, and Mark is an incredible young man,? Matta said. ?He?s an incredible student, he?s very focused in what he wants out of his time at Ohio State academically, and we were happy with what he brought to the table every day for us.?

While team workouts began Oct. 13, Titus practiced for the first time on Nov. 9. He played the very next night in Ohio State?s 107-69 season-opening win over VMI, hitting two free throws and pulling down a rebound in three minutes of action.

?I wasn?t in shape, and to be thrown out there the first week of practice was pretty tough,? Titus said. ?I wasn?t in shape to play top-notch Division I basketball. I was joking that first week that I wasn?t in shape to play high school basketball. But I?ve adjusted so far and I?m doing all right now.?

Titus has seen the floor in all but one game going into last night?s contest with No. 6 North Carolina. His highlight so far was a three-pointer in the closing minute of last Friday?s 91-57 victory over Youngstown State ? a shot that drew smiles from Titus and the rest of his teammates.

Matta said, ?I know Mark was very excited when I called him and said, ?Hey, we need you.? We?re grateful for his efforts and contribution. The guys have great respect and admiration for the job that he does for us, and he?s such a likable guy and a great teammate that they?re really happy for him when he gets that opportunity (to play).?

Though he has become more accustomed to his good fortune, Titus is still taken aback when he steps on the hardwood in the Buckeyes? scarlet and gray. The week before getting the call from Matta, he said he was lying on his parents? couch in Brownsburg watching NFL games. The next week, he was living a dream.

?I was planning on coming back for a visit again the next week,? Titus said. ?My mom asked if I needed to take everything and I said, ?No, I?ll be back next week, I?ll get it then.? Then I get put on the team, I?m playing in a game ? it was a whirlwind. I honestly found myself at halftime not believing what was going on. It felt like a dream come true.?

Titus, a math major focusing on pre-med with the goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, is taking 17 credit hours this semester and 19 next.

?Just to be involved at all ? I have a front-row seat to one of the best shows in the country, the atmosphere is amazing,? Titus said. ?It?s a time crunch, but I?ve accepted it. You don?t get an opportunity to be a part of something like this and turn it down.?



Brent Glasgow writes for the Hendricks County Flyer in Avon, Ind.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Official Site

Mark Titus began his Ohio State career as a student manager but was added to the active roster Nov. 10 prior to the season opener for the Buckeyes ... played high school basketball at Brownsburg (Ind.) High School where he was the team leading scorer for three seasons and was twice the team MVP ... selected to Indiana's second team all-state team twice ... ranks eighth in school history with 1,011 career points ... averaged 14 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists for his career ... also lettered in football as a quarterback. Born June 25, 1987, Titus is the son of Bill and Laura Titus ... has two siblings, Ryan (22) and Jayne (13) ... played basketball for Josh Kendrick and football for Mike Godan at Brownsburg ... plans to attend medical school with the hopes off becoming an orthopedic surgeon "to give back to a world that has given me so much" ... enrolled in Ohio State's honors program ... mother played basketball at Purdue.

[jwinslow]

Titus stole the show tonight at the season celebration.

First, he and peters were brought up for interviews. He stopped the process to make an announcement. He admitted hearing the chants for 'one more year' and said after talking it over with his family, he had decided to return next season. The crowd roared.

We also learned that Titus turned down Harvard (studying medicine) to be a team manager & walkon.

Later during his own speech, Thad admitted that he hadn't slept for 9 days, but could now rest easy after Mark's announcement. He also said every coach needs someone to laugh at his jokes, and Mark was always his guy for that.

When Terwilliger was asked who was the knucklehead on the team, he singled out Peters.

[OmahaBeef]

After tonight, I'm wishing OSU sold Titus jersies. I know I'd buy one. He's a funny kid, and sounds like he's got a good head on his shoulders.

[jwinslow]

Titus' announcement