By now, almost everyone has heard the story of team manager turned bench warmer turned Internet sensation Mark Titus.
Titus, a senior on the Ohio State men’s basketball team and creator of the blog Club Trillion, has made a name for himself, due in large part to his writing abilities. Recently, however, he ventured into the world of filmmaking and produced what might be his best work yet.
“Mr. Rainmaker,” a video showcasing Titus’ proficiency in nearly every aspect of the game of basketball, was unveiled last week in honor of his blog’s 2 millionth hit. The video features the walk-on making a variety of shots, from a number of different locations in the gym, and preaches the importance of hustle, sportsmanship and stretching, among other things.
It goes without saying that, just like nearly everything Titus does, the video was made in the interest of humor. However, Titus said that this particular endeavor had somewhat of an ulterior motive.
“I wanted people to laugh, obviously, and to think it was humorous or whatever,” Titus said. “But at the same time I wanted you to be like, ‘Well you know, that kind of was impressive.'”
Perhaps the scene most likely to impress his viewers, as he desires, is Titus’ shot from the stands of the Schottenstein Center; a shot that Titus said took him a mere two attempts.
“I got really lucky and most of my shots were made on my first or second try so we didn’t really spend a whole lot of time on it,” Titus said, “It was two days of shooting and it took us probably about two hours total, but most of the time was just spent screwing around.”
After being kicked out of last season’s NBA draft and making what commissioner David Stern said was a mockery of the entire process, Titus said he plans to send “Mr. Rainmaker” to NBA scouts. The plan for the video all along, Titus joked, was to bolster his otherwise nonexistent draft stock.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m sure I could raise some hell with this draft too.”
While the NBA may have to once again deal with the circus act that is Mark Titus, Buckeye head coach Thad Matta said he tends to turn a blind eye to all of the shenanigans. The coach insists he hasn’t even seen the new video.
“It’s funny, they were telling me that on his second try he did it,” Matta said. “But I don’t know what he did.”
Titus said he thinks he knows why his coach chose to avoid his latest creation.
“What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” Titus said. “I think that’s kind of the direction he wants to go. I don’t think he wants to read my blog or watch my videos because he’s around me enough and he doesn’t need any more. He gets his Mark Titus fix every day in practice.”
Whether his coach sees the video or not, people across America have been exposed to “Mr. Rainmaker.” Not that someone whose story has been told in The New York Times needs any more publicity, but Titus’ video has been viewed more than 80,000 times on YouTube and last week was featured on ESPN’s “SportsNation.”
Though the national attention is nothing new for Titus, he insists that it still comes as a surprise.
“I still feel like I’m a bench warmer loser who just can’t get any respect or can’t catch a break, so every time I do something I feel like no one is going to care or no one is going to notice,” Titus said with a smile. “You’d think I would learn my lesson.”
