East Lansing, Mich. - Forbes lists Mat Ishbia as one of the richest men in the world. But dollars don't make his heart pound and eyes twinkle like the times he talks about his days as a Michigan State basketball champion, the lessons he learned, and the people he grew to love as a Spartan.
As a little walk-on from Birmingham, Mich., he felt acceptance, love and respect from Michigan State's famous players and coaches. He didn't expect that. He isn't sure he deserved it. He never forgot it.
Tom Izzo kicked his tail like any other player and made him like it. Ishbia appreciated that too.
No one is completely sure how the people skills and work lessons that Ishbia absorbed as a student at Michigan State and a basketball player under Izzo helped form the structure and drive for him to become one of the most successful and celebrated entrepreneurs in American business. But Ishbia swears the impact was immense.
He wanted to pay it back, and pay it forward. He’s doing so with a gift commitment of $32 million to Michigan State University athletics and post-graduate business development. It’s the largest gift by one person in the history of the university.
“This gift is not about Mat Ishbia,” said Ishbia, who is CEO and President of United Wholesale Mortgage. “It’s about Michigan State University. It’s about Tom Izzo. It’s about Mateen Cleaves. These are the people that impacted my life. What you realize in life is there are certain things that happen that change the direction of your life forever, and that happened to me at Michigan State.”
Ishbia briefly considered a career in coaching after graduating with a business degree at Michigan State. He served as a student assistant during his final year with the Michigan State basketball program in 2002.
Ishbia decided to join UWM, a company founded by his father. He was one of only 12 employees in 2003. Ishbia became president of the company in 2013. The company now has more than 7,000 employees and is the largest wholesale mortgage originator in the U.S.
He says he applied many of the habits and practices of Izzo’s basketball program to his company.
“I saw his work ethic, his drive and also his compassion to people,” Ishbia said. “Coach Izzo’s selflessness, his humility and also his drive to be great has never left my mind.
“I will say it very clearly so everyone knows: I would not be as successful as I am, I would not be the person I am, without Tom Izzo and Michigan State and I’m forever grateful for him and for this university and I’m proud that I can give back a little bit to the university and hopefully make an impact on people like the way Coach Izzo and Mateen Cleaves made an impact on me.”
THE FAMILY FACTOR
Ishbia mentioned Michigan State basketball as a family several times during Friday’s press conference which commemorated Ishbia’s gift.
“Mateen Cleaves treated me like a brother from the day I got there,” Ishbia said.
Even when the snotty-nosed Ishbia accidentally fouled superstar Cleaves too hard in practice one day during Ishbia's freshman year.
“I’m the third string, walk-on point guard, and I’m playing against Mateen Cleaves, the Big Ten Player of the Year,” Ishbia said. “And I remember distinctly, I was getting after him, trying to guard him and I fouled him really hard one time.
“I remember Coach Izzo blowing the whistle and getting after me.”
Cleaves stepped in.
“I remember Mateen said, ‘Coach, they’re going to foul me in the games too. He’s doing all right. Leave him alone,’” Ishbia said. “Most star players would say, ‘Get off me.’”
Cleaves didn’t know Ishbia all that well at the time. But Ishbia felt like he knew all that he needed to know about Cleaves. And he admired it.
“He and I came from different worlds,” Ishbia said. “But I never will forget how Mateen made me feel and how he took care of me. I wouldn’t have been on that team without Mateen Cleaves. I probably would have gotten kicked off the team without Mateen Cleaves protecting me and always doing right by me. He is one of the greatest Spartans of all time.”
Ishbia was a scout team player and bench warmer for MSU’s three straight Final Four teams from 1999 to 2001, and a member of the 2000 National Championship team.
“Day one, I’m a walk-on who's not even going to be able to sniff the court," Ishbia said. "And Mateen Cleaves, Antonio Smith, these guys treated me like family. They didn’t have to do that. I got to be here at an amazing time, three Final Fours, four Big Ten championships. I got to ride the bench but it was an honor to be on all of those teams.
“I’m who I am because of these people.”
Now Ishbia employs several of them. Cleaves is considered one of the best leaders in Michigan State sports history. Ishbia saw and felt Cleaves' impact first-hand as a teammate and friend. Ishbia hired Cleaves to be UWM’s Leadership Coach.
Other former Spartans such as Antonio Smith, Charlie Bell, Chris Hill and Adam Wolfe are role players at UWM.
“What amazed me is how he used his basketball experience to create aspects of his company like coaches do to develop a team," Izzo said. "The employees are like players. There are these little groups huddling, and they all have a captain.
“When I went down and spoke at his company about 10 years ago, I went on a tour of the place. Then I went to a gathering outside and it reminded me of a large pep rally. There was fun, there were balloons, it was a party. I said, ‘This is not supposed to happen in business.’
“I just realized that there were so many things that he tried to do to keep it interesting for people. And that’s what we try to do here.
“He just kept talking about what he wanted to do. It was a smaller company at that time. I realized that day that this kid has a dream. And I’ll be honest with you, I looked at him and thought, ‘Are you crazy?’ I’m sure that’s what a lot of people said to me when I had my dream."
'THIS WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN'
Ishbia's Michigan State friends and teammates have helped his company go from good to great.
“I guess when you have a dream and you accomplish your dream, you try to find people that remind you of what you went through," Izzo said. "He had been through the wars with the Charlie Bells and the Antonios. It shows to this day that he never forgot where he came from, which is maybe one of the greatest qualities anybody could have."
Ishbia wants to provide support and avenues for more former Spartan athletes to launch their careers. A portion of his donation with pay for the creation of the Spartans For Life Fund, his brainchild.
“I want to make sure this gift touches every student-athlete at Michigan State,” Ishbia said. “And it’s not only current athletes, but past, present and future student-athletes.
“There are so many great Spartan owners of companies or people that are hiring and we need to connect the student-athletes. I don’t care if you are 55-years-old, if you were a student-athlete at Michigan State, no matter where you are in the country, we have a great network of people and we are going to make sure everyone is connected.
“We are going to spend a lot of time on that. Once you become a Spartan, you’re part of the family. Coach Izzo and the team taught me that and hopefully I can give back and make that a reality.”
He already has.
“Mat, from all of us, thank you. I love you,” Izzo said. “I don’t deserve the praise you’ve given me. You didn’t get here because of what I did for you. You got here because of the job you took and did yourself.
"I love self-motivated people. I love people that aren’t afraid of a challenge. Football, basketball, all these other sports, you covered ‘em all, my man. You done good.”
Izzo did good, too. That’s what this was all about, according to Ishbia. He wanted to honor his coach by seeing to it that the main product of his gift, the raising of a new football building, would bear Izzo’s name. Izzo was humbled by it.
“I tried to treat all my players somewhat the same, like dogs, as you remember, Mat,” Izzo said. “But I love them all to death and when they’re done from here I swear I’ll help them until the day I’m dead.
“Well, you’ve made me so proud of you. And you made me proud of what you’ve done for many of our former players, for Michigan State graduates. I just want to say that this will never be forgotten and I’m hoping that it will inspire others to understand that getting something is great, but giving something - as I’ve learned with the small donations that I’ve made - makes you feel good. The only way it makes you feel good is if the people you gave to take advantage of the gift and we promise you that we’ll do everything we can to make you proud. I know for Mel Tucker and I, we are going to work diligently, and the next time you come to a National Championship Game, it will be as a billionaire instead of as that player that sat next to me that I thought I would help become a coach some day.
“People out there, embrace Mat Ishbia. There aren’t a lot of people that would do what he’s done or the way he has done it.”