Richey | Unique Mayer 'key cog' for Illini

Mar. 15—CHAMPAIGN — Brad Underwood joked before the 2022-23 season started that Matthew Mayer needed to go back to his signature hairstyle.

Rock the mullet that drew serious attention when Mayer was playing a vital role off the bench in Baylor's run to the 2021 NCAA championship. Or even the toned down version when his role grew a year later and the Bears earned a No. 1 seed.

All the Illinois men's basketball coach apparently needed was patience.

Because the mullet is back. Business up front with slightly less party in the back compared to his flow in 2021, but Mayer started the biggest month of college basketball with a throwback to the biggest moments of his college basketball career.

Moments Underwood is hoping Mayer can revisit in the next several weeks for Illinois, with Mayer and the Illini set for a 3:30 p.m. Thursday first-round NCAA tournament game with Arkansas at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

"If it gets him to play like he did in the tournament game where he had (22 points against Norfolk State in 2022) and was dominant, I'm all for it," Underwood said soon after Mayer debuted his cleaned-up signature look this season. "Matt's going to find a way to come up with something, whether it's the headband or the mullet. It's probably really good for his NIL as well."

Turns out the return to the mullet was all name, image and likeness. Mayer had a deal with Great Clips in Champaign. They set the date for his haircut in late February to coincide with March Madness.

Simply another interesting chapter in what's been an ... interesting ... one-and-done season for Mayer at Illinois. His decision to leave Baylor for Illinois put him in a more prominent role than he ever had with the Bears. It also apparently created the opportunity for Mayer to be more himself.

Like when he started fasting before games and completely changed his diet and nutrition to fix his early-season struggles.

Or when he publicly questioned whether everyone in the program was on the same page. It was an entirely disparate view from Underwood and came as signature wins against UCLA and Texas devolved into a double-digit home loss to Penn State and a tough win against Alabama A&M ahead of what would be a disaster of a Braggin' Rights performance.

Lighter moments happened, too, as Illinois started to win more consistently in January. Like when Mayer gave up on his goatee for a mustache-only look he paired with a headband he found lying around the Ubben Basketball Complex locker room one day.

The capper all came at once. The mullet made its return and Mayer followed up a disappointing loss at Ohio State by missing a practice in the final week of the regular season because of what he called self-induced "caffeine poisoning."

Cue hundreds of tweets and national headlines galore. The former included a missive from college basketball analyst and former Purdue star Robbie Hummel, who opined that the "Illinois basketball season would make for a hell of a reality show."

Mayer would be its star.

Illinois needs Mayer to be its star on the basketball court in Des Moines this week. Then maybe Las Vegas and Houston.

It's why Underwood pursued the 6-foot-9 wing last offseason. For these coming NCAA tournament moments.

"He's a big cog to everything we're trying to do," Underwood said. "You don't go into the NCAA tournament and have your best players not play well. We definitely need him to be good."

That's the type of role Mayer was looking for when he left Baylor. He had value when he entered the transfer portal before choosing Illinois ahead of North Carolina, Memphis and Texas Tech.

"I was a top recruit, so pretty much every school was going to take me," Mayer said. "I wasn't too worried about that. But at the beginning of the year when I was playing bad, that was weighing on me heavy, feeling like a disappointment. It all came down to my health, and I fixed that. I've grown a lot here as a player."

Coleman Hawkins called Mayer "a different breed." Most of the best stories the Illinois junior forward won't share for a wider audience. Just that Mayer is a "crazy, fun guy."

"Matt's a special dude," Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. said. "As ya'll can see, he's pretty funny. He makes everybody laugh. I love that dude. I would do anything for him."

The reciprocal is true of Mayer. And the Illini are counting on that "anything" being a level of play that elevates them to the level of NCAA tournament success not seen around here in some time.

If that happens, just look for the guy in the mullet. He'll be easy to spot.