Five-star Matthews learns from watching
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THE LIST: Class of 2015 Rivals150
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Make no mistake about it, five-star guard Charles Matthews didn't want to begin his junior season sidelined by injury. But, he's making the most of it.
Ranked No. 11 in the class of 2015, the 6-foot-5 guard at Chicago (Ill.) St. Rita's isn't letting an ankle injury hold him down and he's embraced an opportunity to learn through watching.
"You get a different perspective of the game and learn from the coaches standpoint on the sideline," Matthews told Rivals.com. "I've really been learning and seeing a lot of different things that we can be doing.
"I think I'm going to fit in well when I come back. Our team, our offense we can kind of move all around and play different roles and I see it even better now."
A high level athlete with good size and a versatile game, Matthews is at his best attacking the rim. He is explosive along the baseline and understands that there is a target on him because of his high ranking and high end recruitment.
"The expectations are high," said Matthews. "That's what I feel that I was made for and I'm going to live up tot them. I'll always feel like I could have done better than people think I should."
In the past, Matthews performances have hit some peaks and valleys. He's trying to end that.
"I've got to have more consistency," said Matthews. "I've really been in the gym so I can be a more consistent player. I think that has been my downfall, not being able to perform at a consistent level. I want to do that and be a better leader."
College basketball's heavy hitters have been making frequent stops in Chicago to check on Matthews. He said Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Duke, Wisconsin, Marquette, SMU and Illinois have all been in. But, with so many schools recruiting him, there are a lot of coaches involved making it tough to separate favorites at this point.
"I've been hearing from like three coaches from pretty much each school," said Matthews. "It's hard for me to tell who is standing out with all of that going on."
The fact of the matter is that Matthews isn't worried about sorting out his recruitment anyway. Right now his focus is to get back on the floor and help his team with what he's learned from watching.
"Right now I'm focusing on the season," said Matthews. "I've got great parents so they keep me structured as far as recruiting goes. So I can just focus on bettering my team right now."
Eric Bossi is the national basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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