Boys to men
Mr. Basketball
Matthews continues to make own mark
Posted: Mar. 14, 2009
From the moment he set foot on campus at Marquette University, Wesley Matthews has been under a microscope.
As part of the vaunted "Big Three" recruiting class of 2005-'06 along with Dominic James and Jerel McNeal, that certainly was to be expected, just part of the deal when you're a star at a school where hoops is the main event.
Unlike his two running mates, though, Matthews also has spent his four years with the Golden Eagles dealing with labels and expectations James and McNeal both might have known about, but could never have fully understood.
Mr. Basketball in 2005. Son of a former National Basketball Association player. The kid who spurned the state university, the team in his own backyard and for whom his father once starred, for a small Catholic school on the outskirts of downtown Milwaukee that surely would be overmatched in its move to a bigger conference.
It might have been enough to beat down a weaker player, a weaker person. But not Matthews, whose quiet confidence, patience and desire to succeed finally paid off in a big way in his senior season.
"They can expect me to be this and that and this, and it'll never amount to what I expect myself to be," he said. "I think to a degree that attitude helps because you're not paying attention to the outside. But at the same time you've kind of got an inner turmoil within yourself.
"That's the pressure I feel and been having problems with: just living up to what I want to be. Not what anybody else wants me to be."
Matthews realized from an early age that his name alone would often evoke reactions from people. As he grew older, and began gaining acclaim as one of the state's top prep basketball players at Madison Memorial High School, the chatter - and the comparisons - became louder and more frequent.
Making it even tougher on Matthews was that his father, Wes, was living out of state and to that point hadn't taken an active role in his life. He was instead raised by his mother, Pam Moore, herself a former track standout at the University of Wisconsin, where she met Wes.
"It was tough," Matthews said. "I didn't really know much about it when I was young. Then when I was growing up people started recognizing the name, then you'd start hearing all the stories - the shot against Michigan State, the Badgers, the Lakers, all this kind of stuff - and it was kind of, like, 'Cool, that's my dad.'
"But at the same time people just assumed that my dad was teaching me everything. And that's what bothered me: Everybody just assumed it was my dad when it was my mom that did everything for me."
Sold on MU from his first unofficial visit, he committed during the summer before his senior year at Memorial. It was a recruiting coup for then-MU coach Tom Crean, to have nabbed the state's top prospect from a high school that was only miles from the Kohl Center and the University of Wisconsin campus.
At the same time it was a chance for Matthews to strike out on his own and step into a situation where he'd be able to make an instant impact as the Golden Eagles prepared to make their initial foray into the expanded Big East Conference. Things didn't go quite according to plan, however.
The transition from high school to high-major Division I basketball - a tough one to make for just about every freshman - was made tougher for Matthews when he was sidelined for eight games midway through the season with a fractured right foot.
He recovered to play the final 10 games but wound up averaging just 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. Matthews started all 34 games as a sophomore, averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds, but those numbers dropped to 11.3 and 4.4 in 35 starts last season.
At the same time he hadn't come close to matching the individual accolades already claimed by both James (Big East rookie of the year in 2005-'06, all-league in '06-'07) and McNeal (Big East defensive player of the year in 2006-'07, twice second-team all-league), leading some to ask why Matthews hadn't made similar progress.
"My mom has always had a saying: 'Too many chiefs and not enough Indians,' " Matthews said. "I don't know how our success would have been if I tried to say, 'You know what? I'm here, too. I'm a player, too. I can do this, too.'
"I don't know if that would have worked with the system that we were running, with the style that we were playing. We had success with what was going on. I was fine."
Then early last April, Buzz Williams was named coach to replace the departed Crean, and things changed for Matthews, in a big way.
Utilizing a motion-style offense rather than the set-based one of Crean's that often left Matthews as the third or fourth option, Williams suddenly had given Matthews just as much freedom as McNeal and James to do what came naturally when the Golden Eagles had the basketball.
Matthews immediately responded, playing more effectively and confidently than ever and setting personal scoring highs in each of his first three games. He'd go on later to pour in 30 points in a loss to Tennessee and become one of the nation's most prolific free-throw shooters; he has attempted 234 this season, helping vault him to No. 1 all-time at MU.
Matthews also increased his scoring by 6.5 points per game. He is averaging 17.8, ranking him second behind McNeal's 19.3, and has moved into 10th place on MU's all-time scoring list, ahead of Dean Meminger.
"I've had so many emotions during this season, it's crazy," he said. "Just having the most fun I've ever had. Sometimes I'll get mad, like, 'Damn, why did it take so long? I was having fun before, but why did it take so long?' Then I'll get a sense of relief, 'Finally, people can see what I can do.'
"I'm able to do me. I'm not feeling empty after games."
And although he'd probably never admit it, Matthews has to be feeling a certain amount of vindication as well. He has proved he's his own man and has solidified his place as one of the top all-around players in MU history, quieting any of the remaining doubters.
"You've just got to play the hand that you're dealt, and that's what I'm doing now," he said. "I'm loving this last year, the new system is working for me, I'm playing comfortable, I'm having a lot of fun and we're having a lot of success. We're controlling our own destiny right now."
