Former CentralBearsCHS star Pmattingly30 was a first round MLB draft pick out of high school, then played DI basketball at 28 for LamarMBB. Now he's back in the MLB as an exec. for the Phillies. But how did it all unfold? MLB
INDIANAPOLIS -- He was on a bus headed to a regional high school baseball game when Preston Mattingly was drafted into the ranks of pro baseball. The radio was playing, his teammates were listening, Mattingly's name was announced.
"It was just like something a superhero would do," said Jason Engelbrecht, Mattingly's baseball coach at Evansville Central at the time."I turned to someone in the dugout and said, 'He just made a fortune today.'" That game would play out, Mattingly's senior season would end and he would be thrust into a world where, even if your dad is Don Mattingly, it's not always an easy world to conquer.
Mattingly was a young boy when his dad retired from playing for the Yankees. The family moved back to Indiana, to Evansville, where his dad had played at Reitz Memorial High. Mattingly had the sports world at his feet, said Chitty. He could have played Division 1 in baseball, basketball or football. When his baseball career ended and Mattingly was ready to come back to the courts, he didn't expect any favors.
By that time in 2013, Pat Knight had become the head coach at Lamar. When he heard Mattingly was ready to play college basketball, he didn't hesitate. Tic Price came in as head coach at Lamar for Mattingly's second season. He often told reporters that Mattingly brought a"wisdom" to the college game, that he was a great mentor to his younger teammates.
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