Matt Doherty won a national championship as a player at North Carolina. He even played with Michael Jordan. But now he's trying to turn a program around as the head basketball coach at SMU.
At his weekly radio show at Ten Sports Grill in Downtown Dallas, he spends time talking to loyal SMU fans.
“My wife always called me the mayor anyway,” he says. “I mean its kind of what I do, shake hands and greet people. That's the Irish Catholic in me.”
Doherty has been a college coach for 16-years, and uses a weekly radio show, broadcast on KAAM 1770 AM, to get the word out.
He preaches a philosophy similar to that of Bob Knight. “You know if you make more foul shots, they are free shots, if you make more, than the other team takes, your gonna be in good position to win a basketball game.”
jennifer henry-smu fan
“I love that he can be the face of our program,” says Jennifer Henry who sits in the crowd listening to the radio show. “I mean this event right here is one example. He's out, he's greeting people, he's making relations in the community, and I think that's really important, and something we've really missed.”
In his 9-months on the job, Doherty has helped the school install a new digital scoreboard, and even got construction started on a state of the art practice facility. The SMU Tennis Center had to be removed.
“That big mud pile, that big, big mud pit, is one of the most exciting things I've ever seen,” says Doherty as he looks over the construction site. “That's the future of our program.”
Doherty also appears weekly on Southwest KIA Sportstalk on Channel 52, and opened the show this week by saying: “I just want to say one thing. Okay, I'm not a candidate for the head coach of the Dallas. Okay I just wanted to make that clear.” It’s a clear indication of a likeable personality.
Doherty also has his own Blog at MustangHoopsBlog.com.
“I now am proud to say I'm a Mustang player,” says SMU Forward Ike Ofoegbu, “I know looking back in about two or three years, it’s going to be a big time program. I mean he wants it to be like a Duke or North Carolina, so I mean, he's going to get it done.”
The bottom line is that folks on campus like what Doherty are doing. He's accessible, he's promotable, and he's trying to change the culture. But just like the new basketball facility, it’s not going to happen overnight
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