Recruiting Report: Matthew Hurt (2019)
Five star talent Matthew Hurt of D1 Minnesota and Rochester John Marshall is in the middle of his final season at the AAU level playing with D1 Minnesota. Hurt led his team to a Battle at the Lakes championship over the weekend improving the team record to 19-1.
Over the winter Hurt lead his team to a 26-3 record scoring 33.9 points per game on 62 percent shooting from the floor, 40 percent shooting at the arc, and 82 percent shooting from the foul line.
Hurt also averaged 15 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.9 blocks a game. Add in the 4th straight Big Nine title (some shared with Austin) plus Matt is at 2,751 career points with 1,105 career boards for his career.
This spring Hurt and the D1 Minnesota team are ranked fourth nationally by Prep Hoops and Hurt is averaging 16.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 25 minutes per Adidas Gauntlet game. Matthew is also shooting 59 percent from the floor on 11 shots a game as well as 42 percent from the arc.
The numbers? Outstanding. And the talent? Even more impressive. He is Mr. Efficient. Mr Efficient. From December 1 through last night the theme of basketball during Matthew Hurt’s junior season has been the way he plays within a system and produces big results without dominating possessions.
If you watched Rochester John Marshall this season you saw a team that used all of it’s parts and all of those parts around Matthew Hurt got better game to game. Now look at D1 Minnesota, the talent is thick all the way down the roster. But this team wins because of the way they play together and all of them are improving because of it.
Matthew Hurt is an essential part of that team basketball. In the Battle at the Lakes final Hurt scored his 26 points on 13 shots (eight makes). In the semi-final against Team Rose the five star talent scored his 25 points on a dozen field goal attempts.
Hurt has always been at his best during the biggest games and his 51 points on 25 shots in the Battle at the Lakes Final Four tells you everything you need to know
So what’s next? D1 Minnesota’s Adidas Regional event over Memorial Day followed by several June camps and events. There is also recruiting to consider as the five star talent is in a situation where he could play for any school in the country.
“Things are pretty busy (with recruiting), there are a lot of coaches that are hitting me up,” Hurt said this weekend at the Prep Hoops Battle at the Lakes. “The coaches don’t over do it though, they don’t overwhelm me. The coaches do the right thing.”
Matthew is getting closer and closer to the fall signing period so there will be a time soon where he has to narrow things down. That day should be coming after the 17u year is over. But things are still pretty open for Hurt who is such a wanted target that programs are going to have a spot for him no matter when he decides.
“I’m going to narrow it down, cut my list after AAU season so mid-August or early September,” Hurt said. “I’m going to try and take my five official visits in the fall.
“I’m going to try and make my decision in September or November before the high school season, and if that doesn’t happen I will make a decision in April and be a late commitment.”
What schools are making Hurt feel like a priority at the moment? Hurt listed schools and then mentioned a few items about each program.
“Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Minnesota, Memphis, off the top of the head and there are many more,” Hurt said.
“North Carolina showed me a video of Luke Maye in how they would use me. He is a great player so I think they could use me effectively. Duke is more inside-out. They want me to go there and leave a legacy.
“Kentucky is one and done, it stands out how they develop players over one or two years. Minnesota, my brother Michael (Hurt) is at Minnesota and they are a great school too.
“Indiana’s message is I could go there and change the culture with Race Thompson, my former teammate. I’m just trying to take all of this one day at a time.
With Matthew’s brother Michael being at the University of Minnesota it’s convenient for the Hurt family – mother, father, sister, grandparents, etc – to travel an hour north from Rochester to Minneapolis to see their son play.
It would of course be just as convenient, and very special to see Michael and Matthew play together for a year and father Richard Hurt explained that recently on the One and Done Podcast and most recently with Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500.
“There is nobody that wants Michael and Matthew to play together for one more year than our family, fully transparent,” Richard said.
“Michael made the best decision for himself and Matthew is going to make the best decision for him. I think we are going to really start formulating our plans at the end of the summer in terms of what Matthew will do for visits, and then start scheduling them.”