36 | APRIL 8 • 2021
business SPOTlight
brought to you in partnership with
B I R M I N G H A M
G
rowing up in
Birmingham, Mat
Ishbia made his mark
as a standout on the Seaholm
Maples high school basketball
team from 1995 to 1998 — his
scrappiness and grit more than
compensating for his modest
5’9” height.
As an athletic kid from the
suburbs with dim prospects of
winning a Big 10 athletic schol-
arship, Ishbia was nevertheless
invited in his senior year of high
school to work out with the
Michigan State Spartans. The
coaches noticed his unusual
determination and offered him
a non-scholarship membership
on the team, a so-called “walk
on.
”
He practiced hard for four
seasons, played scattered min-
utes in games that were already
decided, providing first-string
players a rest. Yet he also par-
ticipated in all four of State’s
“Final Four” NCAA appear-
ances — with rings to show
for it — including the National
Championship in 2000.
“
At first, Coach Izzo didn’t
really pay that much attention
to me,
’’ Ishbia told the Oakland
Press in 2010. The apparent lack
of attention “taught me about
what it means to work hard for
something. He was personally
responsible for putting me in
that unbelievable situation. I
mean, I had to bust my tail just
to be the worst player on the
team. I think he appreciated
that.
”
Striving to be a superlative
bench-warmer imparted life-
long lessons. Coach Izzo “held
me accountable to being the
best version of myself.
” Izzo
didn’t expect Ishbia to dunk the
ball after grabbing a rebound:
“But if the ball is on the floor,
I’m capable of diving for it.
”
The head coach’s command
of detail impressed him. “He’s
deeply in the weeds of his
business,
” Ishbia said. “There’s
nothing too small for Tom Izzo
at Michigan State basketball,
not even where the food is laid
From a motivated basketball competitor
to a mortgage industry giant.
Mat Ishbia’s
Hot Hand
DORON LEVIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Mat Ishbia, whose
United Wholesale
Mortgage went
public on Wall
Street in January
“I HAD TO BUST MY TAIL JUST TO
BE THE WORST PLAYER ON THE
TEAM. I THINK COACH IZZO
APPRECIATED THAT.”
— MAT ISHBIA
continued on page 38
Mat Ishbia
on the
hardwood
for MSU.
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COURTESY OF UWM