Charles Matthews goes for 30 points

westerncat · Jan 13, 2015

I think this kid is going to be special. He was hurt earlier and now starting to show a lot of potential. This may be another steal by Cal.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/highschool/chi-boys-basketball-st-rita-flies-past-st-laurence-20150113-story.html

mj2k10 · Jan 13, 2015

Let's be serious- Cal doesn't get a lot of "steals". What he does, though, is scout really well, meaning the guys he recruits generally turn out to be as good or better than advertised. You haven't seen too many situations where a guy comes in with top 10 accolades, and then struggles to make an impact.

Matthews might be the rare case where Cal signed a lower-rated guy, but that seems like a scouting overreaction to Matthews' spring/summer struggles, not Cal plucking a hidden gem. Matthews was consensus top 10-20 when he committed to UK, and the idea that he was actually 30-50 spots worse than that after a few months of AAU play always seemed off. It seems even more off now that he's proving himself to be the best player in the state of Illinois, in one of the strongest HS basketball cities in the country. I suspect he'll creep back up into 5 star range when scouts do their final rankings. He might even end up on the Mickey D team.

wild mandu · Jan 13, 2015

His offensive game is starting to mature and catch up with his defense.

A strong senior season and he'll be a 5 star again.

dezyDeco · Jan 13, 2015

The more I hear... the more I like.

Always glad that a kid that Cal is recruiting signs early, to begin with... wants to be here, so sounds good to me.

Smashcat · Jan 13, 2015

Impressed with his string of high scoring games.

westerncat · Jan 13, 2015

Originally posted by wild mandu:
His offensive game is starting to mature and catch up with his defense.

A strong senior season and he'll be a 5 star again.

I agree I think he will move back up to a 5 star at end of season.

musrat59 · Jan 14, 2015

The young man looks like he has a nice skillset.

TY U 2 WCS 4 9 · Jan 14, 2015

He seems similar in versatility to Darius (picked up by Clippers, by the way) and Liggins. Watched him a few times and he is super coachable as well. Great pick up by the staff, as usual.
He reminds me of Eddie Jones that played for Temple and the Lakers years ago.
This post was edited on 1/14 4:08 AM by TY U 2 WCS 4 9

uk_fan_in_tn · Jan 14, 2015

I watched one of his games on TV, and was very impressed. Very, very skilled and high basketball IQ. Not the most athletic guy, but very savvy. Was never out of control, played with great balance and is a stat sheet stuffer. Very similar to Liggins, but I think Matthews will end up being better.

Rhavicc · Jan 14, 2015

Originally posted by uk_fan_in_tn:

I watched one of his games on TV, and was very impressed. Very, very skilled and high basketball IQ. Not the most athletic guy, but very savvy. Was never out of control, played with great balance and is a stat sheet stuffer. Very similar to Liggins, but I think Matthews will end up being better.

I took him for a pretty athletic guy. Just watching his mixtapes and stuff, he may be pretty lanky, but once he gets up in the air (and he has some decent lift to him) he's pretty shifty. Has great body control at least, and puts it on the floor well. That may give us a that slashing ability off the wing that we really don't have this year. He makes pretty athletic plays. My biggest concern for him, for a long time, was his 3 point shooting ability, or his jumper in general, but he's proved me wrong when I got to watching him on TV, and in his later mix tapes.
He also plays excellent defense, and comes up with a lot of blocks.
Very promising prospect. will do him very well to be in our s&c program. We have a very solid player on our hands that may have been underrated. We'll see how much he improves in the rankings before the McDonald's All-American game.

KMKAT · Jan 14, 2015

Does he have chance to be a McD-AA?

I would like to see him against some of the best.

HipTer · Jan 14, 2015

Originally posted by uk_fan_in_tn:

I watched one of his games on TV, and was very impressed. Very, very skilled and high basketball IQ. Not the most athletic guy, but very savvy. Was never out of control, played with great balance and is a stat sheet stuffer. Very similar to Liggins, but I think Matthews will end up being better.

I'm not sure what you meant by "not the most athletic guy", I guess that is always relative. But I can say that when I watched him I was shocked by his leaping ability. I think he tends to fool you somewhat on his athleticism because he plays under control and doesn't seem to force things. So, when I watched I was thinking "ok, heady player, his team seems to trust him to lead, makes good decisions" - and then boom, he goes into the lane and jumps what looked like a foot above a 6'9" player for a rebound, and left me saying wow.

ORCAT · Jan 14, 2015

Originally posted by uk_fan_in_tn:

I watched one of his games on TV, and was very impressed. Very, very skilled and high basketball IQ. Not the most athletic guy, but very savvy. Was never out of control, played with great balance and is a stat sheet stuffer. Very similar to Liggins, but I think Matthews will end up being better.

I saw one of his games on TV also and came away very impressed also. I can see where you might compare him to Liggins but I think he is a much more complete player and is already well ahead of where Liggins was offensively. I feel he has a much better jump shot and is stronger around the rim and really can leap out of the gym. His defense - well, that's already been discussed numerous times as a tremendous asset so no need to go further there. I'm pretty excited to be getting this kid at Kentucky and now even more so as I keep hearing rave reports/reviews about him from others. Sounds like he has gotten much better even from the time I saw him play and is working his way back to becoming a 5 star recruit. All sounds great for him and UK both.

Cawood86 · Jan 14, 2015

I think it's a combo of his injury causing him to be "out of sight/out of mind" then coming back with a little chip on his shoulder. I like it.

wild mandu · Jan 14, 2015

Charles Matthews is most definitely athletic.

davekersey · Jan 14, 2015

Alan Edwards comes to mind.

docholiday51 · Jan 14, 2015

Our recruiting class is getting better in a period of time when we haven't signed anyone new.I like this concept

gossie21 · Jan 14, 2015

Originally posted by KMKAT:
Does he have chance to be a McD-AA?

I would like to see him against some of the best.

I would say yes, he has a chance. I think Illinois is considered to be the "west" region for McDs AA selections and players from the west usually have a better/easier path to get in, due to less competition.

At any rate, if Duke and UNC can get their mid-70s ranked recruits into the game, then Matthews definitely has a shot. Keep in mind his low ranking is due mostly to a groin injury this summer, not to a drop in skill level.

GonzoCat90 · Jan 14, 2015

Originally posted by docholiday51:

Our recruiting class is getting better in a period of time when we haven't signed anyone new.I like this concept

Interesting point.

podgejeff_ · Jan 14, 2015

Between Labissiere and Matthews coming in and Ulis/Booker/Lyles/Hawkins hopefully sticking around next year might be the year of the mid-range jump shot. They've all got a nice mid-range game.

ThroughBlue · Jan 14, 2015

I don't know his wingspan or arm length but by watching him play a couple games I think his length is what makes his athletic ability look "average". He has hops, but he is just really lanky

Charles Matthews goes for 30 points

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