MANKATO, Minn. -- Mom didn't always get her way.

Former Parkland College athlete Matt Margenthaler attempted to pursue a different career path than his college basketball-coaching dad, Jack.

"She said he was going to be a doctor or a lawyer, but he'd hung around the gym too much," Jack Margenthaler said. "You think kids just want to play, but he wanted to know this play and that play and why you did this or that. He liked the X's and O's, which is unusual for a young kid."

It wasn't that Matt Margenthaler didn't listen to Mom.

"I tried to get out of coaching," he said. "I got my master's degree from Western Illinois in sports management and tried to get into the administrative side."

After a year working with the athletic department at Louisville, young Margenthaler no longer could deny his calling.

"I missed being on the floor," he said.

He returned to the sidelines as a basketball coach 17 years ago and is still there this week. The 10th-year Minnesota State-Mankato head coach has the Mavericks in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

His 28-4 squad plays a 5:05 p.m. semifinal game today (televised on CBS College Sports Network) in Springfield, Mass., against Bellarmine after surviving a 95-91 overtime game against Alabama-Huntsville on Wednesday.

Though he grew up in Macomb where he once set the IHSA all-time prep record by sinking 51 consecutive free throws Matt Margenthaler has had influence from more former Champaign-Urbana residents than his coach at Parkland, Tom Cooper, for whom he played during the fourth-place NJCAA run during 1988-89.

After his brief stay in Louisville and a one-year stint at Florissant Valley, young Margenthaler joined his dad's coaching staff at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, where one of his colleagues was Centennial graduate Scott Nagy, whose father Dick was a former UI assistant coach.

"When he (Scott Nagy) went to South Dakota State, he asked if I wanted to go with him," Margenthaler said. "I was there for six years."

It was a profitable time for his development in the profession.

"Scott is one of the best X's and O's guys I've ever been with," Margenthaler said, "and one of the smartest guys I've ever been with as far as being able to manage a game.

"He was very calm, cool and collected. I am the opposite, more fiery. We were good for each other. I react more quickly than I need to. He taught me to be more patient.

"We were both basketball junkies and worked well together."

After six years on Nagy's staff, Margenthaler ventured off to Mankato. In his decade at the school, the Mavericks have advanced to the NCAA tournament seven times.

His original goal, he said, was to stay "three to five years and move on," but with basketball-playing sons who are in ninth and seventh grade, he has revised his plans.

"I'll stay at Mankato at least in the near future," he said.

Jack Margenthaler who retired nine years ago and relocated to Mankato four years ago is a visitor at every one of the school's practices. He said he sees traits from several current and former coaches in his son's personality and philosophies.

"There's a little Johnny Orr, a little Lon Kruger, a little something from all the coaches he has been with," the elder Margenthaler said.

That includes Cooper, even though he didn't recognize it at the time.

"Being young and smart, I thought I knew everything then," Matt Margenthaler said. "I didn't realize how good Coach Cooper was.

"I look back at the things Coach would say and do, and I use the things Coach Cooper taught us. He, along with my father and some others, have really inspired me."

Cooper's attention to detail was one area where Margenthaler became more committed during his year in Champaign.

"He was a great practice coach and prepared us for everything we were going to see," Margenthaler said. "He had a system, and we ran that system until the last day.

"I remember the day before we left for nationals (in Michigan), we practiced for 3 1/2 hours the night before."

At Parkland, Matt Margenthaler averaged 14.5 points per game (third on the team) for a 26-10 squad that placed fourth in NJCAA Division II. The 6-foot-3 guard sunk 121 three-pointers and the All-Region 24 pick ranked 12th nationally in three-point accuracy (44.8 percent).

Jack Margenthaler, who coached 15 years at WIU and 10 years at SIU-E, enjoys watching practices and games without offering input.

"I tell you honestly, I sit and watch, never go out on the floor, never say anything," Jack Margenthaler said. "If he has anything he wants, he has to ask."

When they do chat, he said, it's frequently not about the game.

"When I was coaching, most of the times, if a coach said it, that was the way it would be," Jack Margenthaler said. "It's not that way now. He does a great job relating with the players.

"One thing I did, and felt was important, and Matt does is to have one-on-one meetings with his players at least once a week. They talk, and a lot of times it's not about basketball."

Matt Margenthaler doesn't mind the extra set of eyes in the stands during workouts.

"I do my own thing," he said, "but it's nice to have a veteran who has been through everything. He never tells me what to do, but he gives great suggestions."

Those who have seen the two Margenthalers coach say they see a tremendous resemblance.

"I remember him as very passionate, and that's the way I am," Matt Margenthaler said. "I've heard a lot of people say they see a lot of Dad in me. I've taken on his mannerisms. Some people call it being crazy. We call it being passionate."

Like his mom did years ago, Matt Margenthaler is steering his sons, ninth-grader Jon Brock Margenthaler and seventh-grader Riley, away from a career in coaching basketball.

"The age of technology has changed their perspective compared to when Scott and I grew up," Matt Margenthaler said. "I don't see them going into coaching.

"As good of a profession as it is, you have to be very passionate or you won't be very successful. If you asked them right now, they'd rather be in the business world. I'm OK with that. As a father, you just want your sons to be happy."

Happy sons, Jack Margenthaler will tell you, also leads to happy parents.

"When they qualified for the Elite Eight, I was as proud of a papa as you'd ever want to see," Jack Margenthaler said. "To see your son do it in a profession I did for 34 years is thrilling. I'm excited to see the things he has put together."

The Division II title game is scheduled for noon Saturday and will be televised live by CBS.

There might be a former Parkland College athlete on the screen.

"I think Mankato has a shot," Jack Margenthaler said. "The first game looks like a good matchup on paper."

EDITOR'S NOTE: While Matt Margenthaler's career is going well, basketball coaching brother Ty is in search of employment. He was part of the University of Wisconsin women's staff that was dismissed earlier this week.

Fred Kroner is The News-Gazette's prep sports coordinator. He writes a weekly high school-related column throughout the school year. He can be reached by phone at 217-351-5232, by fax at 217-373-7401 or at fkroner@news-gazette.com.