Thad Speaks: Thaddeus Matula on Isiaha Mike's departure
In Part 3 of a five-part, extended Q&A series, the director of 'Pony Excess' chats with The HillTopics to discuss today's topic regarding SMU athletics.
Thaddeus D. Matula is no stranger among SMU circles. An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning director, Matula is responsible for directing the highly successful ESPN documentary "Pony Excess," which focused on the death penalty in the 1980s.
Matula is a fan of all things SMU, and he took time out of his busy schedule to speak with The HillTopics for a five-part extended question-and-answer session.
TODAY'S QUESTION:
You're an avid fan of all things SMU. Basketball standout Isiaha Mike recently announced his decision to stay in the NBA Draft. Thoughts about that?
It's interesting. When Isiaha Mike seemed to be indicating that he would be coming back, I thought that was a positive sign for the state of the program. As you know, there is a bit of unrest with the fanbase over a perceived lack of focus on recruiting on Tim Jankovic's part, so Mike stying was going to show me again that Jank's players like playing for him.
Him leaving isn't as bit of a net negative in my perception for the program as him staying would be a net positive, only in terms of what the players think of the current state of the program.
But his leaving will have far less to do with what he feels about the program and more to do whether he feels he can get himself into the NBA.
I think especially with COVID, if you have a halfway decent shot at being drafted, go for it. There's the chance we don't have a college basketball season at all, so start focusing on getting paid, right?
And I can't tell anyone to halt their progress even when they got something special going when their dream job is there for the taking. Because I tell you what, when I was a kid, I wasn't what you'd call an athlete, but I did think the Mustang Band was cooler than sliced bread.
I decided not to go to UT (burnt orange, yuck ... and the band in those tassels?) and not to go to Amherst College because I wanted to be in the hub of SMU Spirit. The best dressed band in the land, the Mustang Band. And then ... amazingly ... I got to be in the SMU band.
But, wouldn't you know? All of my time was getting filled with making films. So my sophomore year, I had to walk away from the band because I wasn't going to go pro in high-knee speed-walking while playing a saxophone, and I wanted to fill all of my time with filmmaking -- and that I did.
THAD SPEAKS ON ...