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.

COURTESY OF UWM

COURTESY OF UWM