On Monday afternoon, Southern Miss men's basketball coach Donnie Tyndall met with his players to warn them of the deadliness of the player he let go.
If his Golden Eagles advance to the NIT semifinals in New York, they'll have to go through the talented DeAndre Mathieu first. The junior point guard, who enters Tuesday's game at Williams Arena second on the Gophers in scoring (12.0) and first in assists (4.2), has arguably been the team's most dynamic player this year, his first season at Minnesota.
It's a reality Tyndall could hardly have imagined two years ago. Back then, he coached Mathieu as a freshman walk-on at Morehead (Ky.) State. Mathieu had hoped for a scholarship offer after that season, but it never came. He left the Golden Eagles after one year.
"He surprised everyone except probably himself with what he's accomplished and what he's done," said Tyndall, who took the Southern Miss job shortly after Mathieu left Morehead State.
Now, Mathieu will have a chance to show his former coach just how far he's come.
"I don't know if I can speak on that but yeah, definitely, I'd definitely like to play against Donnie Tyndall and Southern Miss," Mathieu said after Sunday's game, when the Gophers' third-round opponent still was being decided.
It's been a long journey for Mathieu. The 5-9 guard received only a handful of Division II scholarship offers out of high school and essentially begged his way onto the Morehead campus. Tyndall took a chance and made Mathieu a deal: If he finished in the top eight on the team in minutes played, he would give Mathieu a scholarship for his sophomore year.
"He was a nice, little solid player," Tyndall said. "I thought Dre could eventually play at our level."