Xavier center Matt Stainbrook's last visit to The Q did not end well. He would like to replace that memory with a new one, perhaps getting Xavier to the 2015 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional in Cleveland.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A winding road that began at Western Michigan University has led to good fortunes with the Xavier Musketeers for Matt Stainbrook. What could wrap his career up in a tidy bow would be to erase one tough basketball memory by returning to the scene of the crime.
The 2015 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional is being played at Quicken Loans Arena. Stainbrook, a Bay Village native, last played there for Western Michigan in the 2012 Mid-American Conference Tournament.
It did not end well.
Stainbrook, then emotional, a bit temperamental, and certainly young, was called for a late-game elbow. That led to a technical foul, his ejection from the game, and, ultimately, defeat for WMU.
Days later, Stainbrook decided to transfer. He admits playing in what is a one-bid league for that lone NCAA Tournament berth can be overwhelming.
"I was an 18-year-old kid thrown into something, never having to deal with that kind of pressure, never knowing what I was getting into,'' Stainbrook said of his initial college basketball experience. "I learned a lot. I don't regret going to Western. I met a ton of good friends ... one of my former teammates, I was best man at his wedding last summer."
Yet that elbow, albeit inadvertent, led to Stainbrook's parting, as he felt he just did not fit at WMU.
"I had one (scholarship) offer out of high school and I took it,'' he said. "I didn't want to pay for school."
Interestingly, Stainbrook, is paying for school now. A graduate student and getting his MBA in finance, the Musketeers center passed his basketball scholarship on to his brother, Tim, a walk-on for Xavier. Stainbrook, now 22, covers his less expensive grad school tuition through loans, and using his car for taxi service around the city of Cincinnati.
The benefit of having Tim on the team with him has been big for both.
"Getting to play together has really been a plus for both of us,'' Tim said. "And I never thought that would happen. It has been a great experience. I try to help him out as much as I can. I try to calm him down as best I can. Sometimes I get riled up with him."
The story begins at St. Edward, where Stainbrook played behind a tall teammate who was highly recruited. Even the three local mid-major Division I programs - Cleveland State, Akron and Kent State - did not give the tall but pudgy 290-pound post player a look.
"I had applied to go to John Carroll,'' Stainbrook said during breakfast at the West Side Market over the Christmas break. "I was going to play basketball there."
Late that spring, Western Michigan came calling. They invited him to Kalamazoo, Michigan for an unofficial visit, if he would pay his own way to get there. The Broncos saw enough in him to offer a scholarship, but gave Stainbrook less than 48 hours to accept.
"They offered me on a Friday and said I had to tell them by Sunday,'' Stainbrook said. "So I took my only offer out of high school."
Stainbrook's plan was to redshirt, mature, get in better shape, then play his second year at WMU. But transfers and injuries to others at WMU pushed up his timetable. The season of blending in with time to mature just never developed.
"We were forced to use Matt early, but to his credit, physically, he was ready,'' Western head coach Steve Hawkins said. "We thought we could get him down to 275 by his sophomore year, but he got there as a freshman. Matt's pretty direct. He asked our trainers where they wanted him. He said he would get there and he did."
Still bigger than most players in the MAC and without the experience of many players he went against, Stainbrook often acted out his frustrations with officials, teammates and coaches.
"It just wasn't a good fit,'' the big center said.
It came to an end at The Q. Ejected from the game against Kent State, Stainbrook left the arena and went straight to the team bus.
"I was boxing out,'' Stainbrook began. "They said I hit him with an elbow, (Mike) Porinni I think. He didn't even react to it. I remember somebody interviewed him after the game, and he said it was no big deal. I didn't think so either, but that didn't help me.''
Stainbrook did not want to transfer far from home and looked at several programs in the region before deciding on Xavier. With the NCAA mandated year to sit out to finally get his body in the shape he wanted, along with another year of maturation, he has blossomed into a leader for the Musketeers.
Xavier center Matt Stainbrook (40) reacts after making a shot during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. Butler won the game 88-76. AP Photo
"It's gotten a lot better, because now I'm always playing against a lot of other bigger guys,'' Stainbrook said. "It's my last year, I want to go out with a bang. So that would be amazing to get back there for the NCAA Tournament. That would be a true homecoming. I'm sure I'd have a lot of friends and family. That would be special."
The switch to Xavier benefits Stainbrook (now 6-10, 270), averaging a team-leading 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, in more ways than just going against players his size. The pressures are much different, even as the expectations are actually higher.
Instead of playing at a football school that considers a second-rate bowl a crowning achievement, Stainbrook is at a school without football that expects to be in the NCAA Tournament, and sets its goals beyond that.
"It comes down to the priorities of the athletic department,'' Stainbrook said. "We are not second to any other program. There really is a difference. I've been on some committees at Xavier in the athletic department. Xavier basketball is in the green. When that happens, you definitely get the focus.''
Asked the last time he rode a bus to a game, Stainbrook chuckled. "When we rode to Butler. (Cincinnati to Indianapolis). And we had a sleeper bus for a two-hour ride. They treat us really well. But they expect a lot."
Indeed, Xavier has a long NCAA Tournament history. Overall the Musketeers have been to 24 NCAAs, 12 since 2001. Xavier has advanced to the Elite Eight twice (2004, 2008) and to the Sweet 16 six times. It's not a dream to make the NCAA Tournament at Xavier, it's an expectation and a goal.
"Every year, we want to get to the second weekend (Sweet 16) of the tournament, minimum,'' Stainbrook said. "Our goals start there. You get to the second weekend you give yourself a chance to go to the Final Four. Our other goal is to win the regular season, and/or the Big East Tournament.
The Musketeers are currently 14-8, 5-5 on the season, and mid-pack in the Big East race. But with two wins over Georgetown, and a split with Seton Hall -- a pair of teams in and out of the Top 25 Polls -- plus another over Alabama, Xavier's NCAA resume currently looks solid.
"The depth of the league right now, that is not going to be easy to win the league or to win the tournament, but our goals start there, then get to the NCAA Tournament. Your goals and your focus are a little big bigger than just making the (NCAA) Tournament.
"At the same time, you don't feel that pressure, like in a MAC Tournament, where if we don't win this game, it's over. Your season is shot."
Only time will tell if Stainbrook's NCAA Tournament wishes for one more visit to The Q comes to fruition. But his basketball journey from St. Edward High to Western Michigan and Xavier has been an overall fulfilling one, and perhaps even predestined.
"Ironically, his very first game ever was at Xavier,'' Hawkins said. "He wasn't phased in the slightest. He was great in that game (10 points, 7 rebounds in a 68-65 loss) and remains a tremendous player to this day."
