Matthew Temple has a list in his room.
It's blank, except for its title: "List of Division I offers you had out of high school."
Despite averaging 16.3 points and 10.1 rebounds his senior season at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, the only schools Temple talked to were junior colleges.
"That sticks in the back of my mind," Temple said. "It's a good reminder to me to stay motivated about the other people that didn't want me. I'm going to make them regret that."
And he has.
Just over a year since walking into the men's basketball office to inquire about walking on, Temple was (by his teammates' estimations) finally awarded a scholarship.
But it wasn't something just given to the 6-foot-10 senior to complete the total of scholarships allowed. It was earned.
"He earned it by his play on the court last year and his approach from the day we got the job to the present," Tech coach Chris Beard said. "Another cool thing about that story is that I had two or three of his teammates come into my office in one-on-one settings and go to bat for Matt. 'Coach, it's your decision. We're with you but we believe Matt should be a scholarship player.' That was pretty cool."
Growing up
Temple, then 16 years old, definitely experienced some culture shock when his family moved to Wichita Falls.
Cliff, Matt's father, has worked at a pair of oil companies for the past 30-plus years which meant the Temple family needed to move a couple of times.
Born in London, England, Temple spent most of his life in Trinidad and Tobago, a Caribbean nation near Venezuela.
"It's called the melting pot of the Caribbean," Temple said. "All the culture there was a little bit overwhelming. The people were so friendly and so laid back. You definitely get that island vibe when you're there. The no worries philosophy is pretty prevalent. The attitude they have there and the culture of the people were definitely the best parts."
While there, Temple attended an international school with his brother and sisters.
They played every sport possible.
"I'd have rugby practice at 3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m.," Temple said. "Then I'd go to basketball practice for an hour and just flip between the two. ... All my siblings and I, we all played soccer, volleyball and basketball. My brother and I played rugby."
Those interests narrowed down to basketball as he lettered his two years at Rider.
However, when Temple didn't receive any interest from larger schools, he figured playing basketball at the next level just wouldn't be a reality for him.
So he came to Texas Tech, joined a fraternity (Delta Tau Delta) and started the next chapter of his life.
All the while, that dream of playing collegiate basketball kept nagging at him.
Until he finally did something about it.
Making the team
Temple has made a trio of major phone calls to his family.
The first came a year ago when he successfully walked onto the team.
The second came in January when he moved into the starting lineup after Norense Odiase broke his foot at TCU.
The final one came a few weeks ago when he received a scholarship.
"I think the making the team phone call was probably the best one," Temple said. "The first one I had just telling them I made the team was the biggest one for me."
Temple had been thinking about trying to walk on the Red Raider basketball team.
He often played at the recreation center on campus, some times against former Red Raider Clark Lammert.
Clark's cousin, Travis, was in the same fraternity, so Temple bounced his idea off Clark to determine its potential.
"He just completely encouraged me to do it," Temple said. "He told me, 'Hey, if you really want it, it's going to be a lot of work. You've got the talent for it. I know what it takes and you definitely have it.' It was basically if I had the passion, just go for it."
When Temple walked into the men's basketball offices, Tubby Smith wasn't there. Vince Taylor was.
Temple felt that the coaches probably shooed guys away when they walked in wondering about being part of the team.
But when a 6-foot-10 guy walks in, things change.
"He said, 'OK, we have an open gym this afternoon. If you want to come out and play with the guys, we'll see how it goes,'" Temple said. "I came out and played the open gym. After open gym, coach Tubby (Smith) said, 'Well, why don't you come back tomorrow.' So I said, 'Alright I'll come back tomorrow.'
"I did the same thing and played with them up and down for a while. At the end of the second day, he said that if I'd like to play, they'd love to have me. It happened so fast. That was pretty cool."
Relief
While the first call is his favorite, the most recent phone call Temple made to his family was the biggest relief.
There was some uncertainty concerning a scholarship.
With Smith and his staff, there were talks about it but it wasn't official.
Then, once Smith departed and Beard entered, Temple knew there was a limited amount of scholarships and they were all needed to better Texas Tech for the future.
What Temple wasn't aware of was Beard's knowledge of his story.
When Little Rock played Texas Tech last December, former Tech assistant coach Joe Esposito told Beard where they found Temple.
"I told everybody on our staff, and they were all going to the Rec center," Beard said. "We were at the Rec center about every day looking for the next Matt Temple."
So, when Beard called him into his office toward the end of June, Temple was grateful and relieved.
"Getting to call my parents was definitely the best part because I know my mom and dad had been stressed about that," Temple said. "They put four kids through college, so they're ready to stop paying the bills."
Support
Norense Odiase joked about how he called Temple "Walk-on" or "Rec."
"I guess I'll just be calling him Matt Temple now," Odiase said, smiling. "I need to find him a new name."
All jokes aside, Odiase knew Temple deserved a scholarship. The only question was when it was going to happen.
After telling Temple the good news in his office, Beard told the rest of the team later on in the film room.
"We were livin' man," Devon Thomas said. "Everyone on the team loves Matt and knows how hard he works. He's one of the hardest workers on the team. It was a great moment."
Added Keenan Evans: "Everyone knew it was coming. We were just waiting to see if it actually happened. We were all excited and happy for him. He's a great guy, a great teammate and an even better player."
Justin Gray wasn't in the film room when the rest of the team found out.
Instead, he was scrolling through his Twitter feed when he saw the official announcement.
"I was ecstatic," Gray said. "I started freaking out. I remember we had meetings with coach Beard and we went to bat for Matt and told coach Beard he needed a scholarship. Seeing his work and dedication in the classroom and off the court, just to play and be eligible having an impact as soon as he comes and being a starter and being a threat on the court is one of the best stories I've ever heard in basketball."
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Source:
Temple's motivation leads to long-awaited scholarship
According to Mr. Tan, the foreign student in question was unable to find a job due to the minimum salary and levy imposed by the S-pass scheme. Given that no employer was willing to pay $2,600 for a fresh polytechnic graduate, she was unable to find a job and returned to her home country, implying that she had not served her bond.