JJ Matthews, a 6-8, 225-pound forward for River City Reign, has been picking up offers left and right over the past year or so.
The latest offer came from the East Carolina Pirates on Wednesday night, a program that has been following Matthews for some time now. But it seems that the Pirates pulled the trigger and he feels “well-accomplished” because of it.
“(I’m) excited,” Matthews told Phenom Hoops about the offer. “I feel as if they have a great program and play some of the best competition in the nation on a regular basis. They have been following me for a while now, so it kind of feels well-accomplished.”
Matthews has earned double digit offers with his fantastic play over the past year but even with the offer from the Pirates, he remains wide open in his recruitment.
“I’m still all the way wide open but very strong interest (in the Pirates). They have done a great job of staying in contact and building a good relationship.”
Along with East Carolina, programs such as Towson, Murray State, Providence, James Madison, Temple, and St. Joseph’s have been the main schools showing the strongest interest towards him, but other continue to stay in contact.
Matthews and River City Reign has been a frequent visitor for the Phenom Hoops events, always competing at the highest level and bringing in top talent for scouts and coaches to watch.
Competing in events like he has certainly has helped Matthews and his team put themselves on the map, something that he says Phenom Hoops can provide others down the road.
“I think Phenom Hoops has put me and the rest of the team in a good position to be exposed and noticed, whether coaches were out or not. Also, I think it provided a platform to show the entire nation that we can play with any team and that we don’t back down from anyone.
I would certainly say to just play hard, together, and smart. Then Phenom Hoops will help by playing their part of putting you out there to the world.”
Matthews doesn’t currently have a time frame of when he might decide, but he plans on narrowing his list down in the coming week or so. After that, he does want to take his official five visits to the schools he chooses.