Recruiting Report: Matthew Hurt (2019)
What Matthew Hurt has done so far in his young career is unmatched by anybody in the country in the 2019 class. The 6-foot-9 Rochester John Marshall talent is becoming a name nationwide and his career is just beginning. Hurt…
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Continue ReadingWhat Matthew Hurt has done so far in his young career is unmatched by anybody in the country in the 2019 class. The 6-foot-9 Rochester John Marshall talent is becoming a name nationwide and his career is just beginning.
Hurt plays with the D1 Minnesota 17 and Under team that is 23-1 overall this season and ranked second in the nation. Hurt just doesn’t “get some run” with the team either. Matthew is the team’s leading scorer at 14 points per game (after 24 games), the team’s leader in rebounding at 7.8 a contest, the leading shot blocker at 2.2 a game, and the team leader in free throw percentage.
Matthew is also third on the team in field goal percentage at 56 percent, third in three point percentage (41.8 percent on 49 attempts), third in steals, and fourth in assists. And this is playing with Wisconsin commit Nathan Reuvers, recently ranked four star Jericho Sims, national top 150 talents McKinley Wright and Goanar Mar, and other D1 offered kids.
This is one of the best teams in the nation and right now many would view Matthew as the likely team MVP (along with Wright). Matthew is a modest young talent who right now only seems to care about winning.
“So far I think we have played really well,” said Hurt. “Our team has really bonded over these last three months or so. As a team we all wanted to go undefeated the whole AAU season but now we just want to win the Adidas Final in South Carolina and win the Vegas tournament too.”
As far as his own game Matthew can quickly be described as a combo forward. He can score above the rim and block shots with the best of them but his face-up skill shooting with feet set, moving the ball, moving without the ball, and putting the ball on the deck are at an advanced level well past his age.
“I think I have played well but I think I could play a lot better,” Hurt explained. “What I want to do better is being more of a leader for my team on and off the court.”
Matt feels he could of played better as he does see things he wants to improve on. That said nine high major programs have extended offers plus Kansas Head Coach Bill Self called Hurt today and North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams recently told the family Matthew is one of the top three or four players he saw regardless of class in the spring.
“It feels good, it’s nice to see my hard work paying off,” said Hurt.
It’s paid of earlier than it does for most. NC State, Virginia, Florida, Xavier, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Iowa, and Minnesota have offered scholarships and that is an offer list that can only be matched by one or two other 2019 talents in the nation.
Matthew’s brother Michael of course will play at the University of Minnesota next year as he moves on to campus this next week. Matthew received his Gopher offer a couple months back and had a lot of good things to say about the program.
“I felt honored that the hometown team offered but I was just really happy that they offered me,” Matthew said. “I think the Gopher program is changing (in a good way) I think they are heading in the right direction.
“I think all the coaches are really good. They all know what they are talking about and in general they are really good people.”
Matthew is coming off a freshman basketball season at John Marshall where he averaged 19 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, three blocks, and 1.8 steals per game playing next to his brother. Matthew shot 57 percent from the field, 77 percent from the foul line, and 43.6 percent at the arc on 94 attempts. The Rockets were 24-5 last season.