How did WMU let Matt Stainbrook get away? This guy is eating Arizona alive. He would have made WMU the best team in the MAC this year.

I remember watching him at WMU and he looked like a terrible, out-of-shape player.

We used to call him Chubby Napoleon Dynamite. But man is he tearing it up...

(03-26-2015 11:08 PM)GFlash68 Wrote:  How did WMU let Matt Stainbrook get away? This guy is eating Arizona alive. He would have made WMU the best team in the MAC this year.

Technically speaking, had Stainbrook stayed at WMU, he would've graduated last year.

Stain brook was grossly out of shape and had attitude problems out the young yang but he was never a terrible player.

(03-27-2015 04:59 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  

(03-26-2015 11:08 PM)GFlash68 Wrote:  How did WMU let Matt Stainbrook get away? This guy is eating Arizona alive. He would have made WMU the best team in the MAC this year.

Technically speaking, had Stainbrook stayed at WMU, he would've graduated last year.

This. Not to mention, Stainbrook leaving really opened the door for Whittington to shine. He was a pretty good player too, if I remember correctly.

I saw him play only once and it seemed like he whined about not getting a call every time he shot it.

(03-27-2015 08:01 AM)Frozenbaugh Wrote:  I saw him play only once and it seemed like he whined about not getting a call every time he shot it.

Exactly. It seems to me that the change of scenery really changed him for the better in terms of attitude and weight (considering they asked him to drop weight when he arrived) at the very least. But that's just me looking at it from the outside, so I may be talking poo. Regardless, he had a great tournament and had a great run at X.

He was let go by Hawk and his staff....No tears were shed by teammates wishing he had stayed...He had a negative influence in the locker room...
He did get it together and turned into a very good player.

They withdrew his scholarship? I don't think that is what happened. He wanted to leave and they wanted him to change or leave--a mutual parting. But I don't recall him being kicked off the team.

I think he was kicked out of his last MAC tournament game and then went and sat on the bus. Evidently he needed a fresh start and a new environment, and probably Western was tired of his act. He did show a lot of potential as a player while at Western. Certainly Whittington last year was as good or better, so WM did not really miss him all that much.

His scholarship was not renewed. Coach's decision. His attitude was a problem.

He did have weight problems, playing weight was about 290, and it wasn't muscle. He did try to lose weight but health problems that arose his freshman year kept him from working out that off-season. When healthy though he really worked at it, in high school he was 330, dropped to 290 that summer, and was down in the 270s before the season started.

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Lengthy feature article on Matt in today's NY Times.

http://nyti.ms/1bBrVAl

Too bad Hawkins couldn't see that the kid WAS coachable and just needed some time and maturity. Maybe X is just a better situation. Whatever they did with him sure worked. He's had a couple of good seasons there and has been a productive team player in a disciplined system.

He was pretty tough as a freshman, but a bit of a prima donna. I think that game he got tossed at the MAC tourney was vs KSU, IIRC.

Interesting cat. I recall him just killing us at Toledo one year, then getting benched for screaming at a teammate during a TO and pointedly ignoring the coach. Sounds like he's grown up. WMU can sure lose talent.

(03-27-2015 02:56 PM)axeme Wrote:  Too bad Hawkins couldn't see that the kid WAS coachable and just needed some time and maturity. Maybe X is just a better situation. Whatever they did with him sure worked. He's had a couple of good seasons there and has been a productive team player in a disciplined system.

He was pretty tough as a freshman, but a bit of a prima donna. I think that game he got tossed at the MAC tourney was vs KSU, IIRC.

He was brought in as a project to be redshirted, but his skills were such that the staff couldn't justify keeping him off the floor. In hindsight he really needed that year off to work on his body and maturity.

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(03-27-2015 05:21 PM)Tommyboy Wrote:  

(03-27-2015 02:56 PM)axeme Wrote:  Too bad Hawkins couldn't see that the kid WAS coachable and just needed some time and maturity. Maybe X is just a better situation. Whatever they did with him sure worked. He's had a couple of good seasons there and has been a productive team player in a disciplined system.

He was pretty tough as a freshman, but a bit of a prima donna. I think that game he got tossed at the MAC tourney was vs KSU, IIRC.

He was brought in as a project to be redshirted, but his skills were such that the staff couldn't justify keeping him off the floor. In hindsight he really needed that year off to work on his body and maturity.

That's one of the toughest choice the coaches have to make.

that rs transfer year at x, with a tough veteran roster, seems to have molded him into the player and teammate he became the next 2 years.

you could compare him to jd weatherspoon. he came into osu with some hype, struggled with grades, getting on the court and attitude. transferred to toledo, used the year off to tighten up his game and grow into a better student and teammate and ended up being one of the top players on consecutive 20 win teams.

A lot of 18-22 year olds choose to do their own thing. Sometimes it takes a second chance for it to "register" in their brains how important and short their time in college really is. Such is the case with Stainbrook. Glad he did well at X this year and got his act together.

and to clarify, yes, his scholarship did get removed and he was effectively booted from the team. He did not quit and he did not seek a transfer until that happened.