“I hadn’t done any real high school coaching before,” Mason said Wednesday during a phone interview. “But like I tell everybody, being a point guard at every level of basketball from the lowest to the highest, it was an easy transition for me. Maybe I shouldn’t say easy. But it was not a hard adjustment.”
Mason was Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 1999-2000 (he shared the award with Medina’s Tony Stockman) and went on to play for Charlie Coles at Miami.
A point guard known for his quickness, “The Jet” ranks second in MU history with 117 starts. Only Ron Harper (118) started more games in a Miami uniform.
He was a four-year letterman and graduated with a degree in sport marketing in 2005.
Mason scored 1,230 points as a RedHawk and is still fifth in career rebounding (806) and seventh in career steals (157). He was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
“I have so many memories playing for Miami,” said Mason, 35. “I still keep in touch with some of the guys I played with and some of the coaches. It was more of a brotherhood.”
Mason was a highly recruited player coming out of South High School in Cleveland. He chose Miami, a mid-major with a coach that proved to be a significant part of his life.
“Coach Coles was one of the better college coaches ever, and a lot of people agree with that,” Mason said. “With his personality, he always had a good story for us. Playing-wise, he always tried to play a schedule that would get us exposure and get us better.
“He was serious about basketball, but he was more serious about teaching you how to be a young man. I think that helped me out a lot as far as my college days and my professional career.
“Now going on to be married with five daughters and a wife, all of that was part of Coles’ teaching. He thought there was more than just basketball. That’s how I try to teach my young guys.”
Mason played basketball beyond college for about a decade. He said the MAC prepared him for that journey.
“When I was at Miami, there were more guys from the Mid-American Conference playing professional basketball than a lot of the bigger leagues,” Mason said. “I mean overseas, where you can make good money.
“Coming out of the MAC, you’ve got to work for everything. Say you go to the ACC … everything is given to you. The MAC is a hard-hat league where you’ve got to bring it every night. When I graduated, I went to play in Turkey. It was normal for me because over there, you’ve got to work. It’s not like the NBA where they give you everything.”
Mason competed in the NBA Development League for a year and a half and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the preseason. But most of his pro career was spent in Europe.
Asked where he played overseas, Mason said simply, “Just say I’ve been to over 150 countries.”
“People don’t understand how neat the world is and how many different cultures are out there,” he added. “There’s so much you can learn. It’s unbelievable. I wish people could travel the world.”
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