Mat Ishbia’s Hot Hand

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Mat Ishbia’s Hot Hand

From a motivated basketball competitor to a mortgage industry giant.

DORON LEVIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Mat Ishbia, whose United Wholesale Mortgage went public on Wall Street in January

COURTESY OF UWM

Growing 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 scholarship, 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 minutes in games that were already decided, providing first-string players a rest. Yet he also participated in all four of State’s “Final Four” NCAA appearances — 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 lifelong 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

COURTESY OF UWM

Mat Ishbia on the hardwood for MSU.

“I HAD TO BUST MY TAIL JUST TO BE THE WORST PLAYER ON THE TEAM. I THINK COACH IZZO APPRECIATED THAT.”

— MAT ISHBIA