by Jim Plautz
Scholarship offers came in for Matthew every day, but Matthew said he wasn’t ready to decide. Privately, Matthew told me that he wasn’t even sure he wanted a scholarship. “I’m not sure I want to be obligated to play basketball in college. Sometimes I’m not even sure I want to go to school. There are so many other things I want to do.”
“Matthew, you have a lifetime ahead of you. Don’t waste the opportunity to be a young man and just enjoy yourself. Most adults will tell you that the college years were the happiest time of their lives.”
“I know, Coach, but I’m not like other kids, am I? There are a lot of people counting on me.” I’ll never forget the expression he had on his face when he made that startling statement. There was a total absence of cockiness or grandeur, just a sad look of someone with an overwhelming burden. I realized for the first time how vulnerable he was and how difficult it must be to live up to his own expectations.
“Just because you are a little smarter than most of us doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be happy. Be a little selfish for once and do what’s best for Matthew Wilson.” I knew it was lame, but I had to say something. I laugh every time I think of saying he might be a ‘little bit smarter than most of us’. Was that an understatement or what?
“Coach, I owe it to these schools to tell them something so that they don’t hold open a scholarship for me that could go to someone else. Let’s tell the recruiters that we appreciate their interest, but that I have made a decision to attend another school. If they ask, tell them that we decided not to identify this school until after graduation. That will buy me some time.”
“Okay but I would appreciate sitting down with you again before you make your final decision. Okay?”
“Promise,” Matthew said as he shook my hand. “And, by the way, I was really lucky to have you as a coach and friend. Nobody could have done a better job than you did.”
Wow, I thought. That compliment made me feel like I was floating on air. If I could frame it, I would put it on the mantle in front of our State Championship trophy.
Two of the boys did get scholarships with the help of highlight videos our audio visual department sent out to targeted schools. Rodney got a full ride to the University of Minnesota and Tom Osteen got a half-scholarship to the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh, a smaller school about 120 miles north of Milwaukee. The juniors on the team looked forward to carrying on the tradition that Matthew had begun.
My basketball coaching experience only lasted that one year. Ray Meyer recovered from his heart attack and returned to claim his head coaching position, not that I had any interest in coaching again. I was going to quit while I was ahead. Not many coach’s can claim a 15-1 record and a State Championship in their only year of coaching.
“What else was there to prove?” I joked as I told Rosann of my decision to return to Tampa.
“Nothing, unless you want to prove to everyone that it was your coaching genius and not Matthew Wilson that was responsible,” Rosann replied, putting me in my place.
“But we will never know for sure, will we?” I said as I put my arms around her.
“You know and I know,” she persisted. “There is only one Matthew Wilson.”
“Okay, I give up. Besides, I’m looking forward to getting back full-time into the construction business again. Did I tell you we are bidding on a job in Ethiopia?”
“Good, you can search for the Ark while you’re there, but don’t expect me to visit you. I’m looking forward to getting back home to Tampa.”
At the time I had no idea what she was talking about although I soon learned that Ethiopian Christians have long-claimed that they are custodians of the Ark of the Covenant, once the most important symbol of the Jewish faith and the only physical manifestation of God’s presence on earth. I thought back again to the ill fated youth-group meeting at Father Sean’s church.
I met one more time with Matthew who told me he planned to accept an academic scholarship to stay in Milwaukee and attend Marquette University.
“Why Marquette?”
“Staying at home will allow me to devote more time to the world ministry that Father McGinnis and I plan to set up in all the major cities in the world,” he explained with the deep, serious voice that I had come to recognize. “There are more and more natural catastrophes occurring throughout the world and people need our help.”
The grandiose plan did not surprise me; Matthew was always thinking big and was three or four moves ahead of the rest of us. His decision to stay in Milwaukee and attend Marquette wasn’t about basketball. Matthew had bigger plans, and I had no doubt he would succeed. “Let me know if I can ever help with anything?” I offered without realizing the import of what I was saying.
“Do you mean it?” Matthew asked, looking me straight in the eyes. “I have something in mind for you if you are willing to help.”
I didn’t realize it the time, but this was the beginning of a ten-year journey that would take me to Ethiopia, Babylon and Jerusalem. Looking back with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I realize that I was only a pawn in Matthew’s plan to discover the lost Ark of the Covenant.
APPENDIX - Excerpts from; Phenom - The Search For The Ark of the Covenant
Freshman Year - Marquette vs 1961 Buckeyes