Charles Matthews

Charles I. Matthews (born November 15, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. He played his freshman season for the 2015–16 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team after attending St. Rita of Cascia High School. As a high school senior he was a 2015 Jordan Brand Classic All-American selection. He earned West Region Most Outstanding Player in the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament for the 2017–18 team that won the 2018 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament and reached the 2018 NCAA Championship Game. After playing his redshirt junior season for the 2018–19 Wolverines, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft. Early life Matthews was raised in the Avalon Park Community area of Chicago, near 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, which is on the borderline between the Chatham and Greater Grand Crossing Community areas on the South Side. Matthews briefly lived in Matteson, Illinois before returning to the South Side where he attended Ray Elementary and began his basketball career at the 63rd and Stony Island YMCA. In his youth, he played chess, hockey, the trombone and skateboarded, but he began to take basketball seriously the summer before his high school freshman year. Matthews committed to playing basketball for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats on February 26, 2014 during his junior year. At the time, he was rated as the number 11 player and number 3 shooting guard in the national class of 2015 by Rivals.com and number 12 player by ESPN. Among his other offers at the time were Illinois, Kansas, Marquette and Michigan State. Matthews was the first to commit to playing basketball for Kentucky's 2015 class. On June 1, Matthews won the 2014 USA Basketball 3–on–3 Under-18 National Championship Tournament with teammates Braxton Blackwell, Tim Delaney and Kipper Nichols. Matthew earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Matthews officially signed his National Letter of Intent on National Signing Day, November 22, 2014. During Matthews' four-year high school career at St. Rita's, he led the team to 82 wins and four straight Chicago Catholic League South championships, including a 26–4 record as a senior. As a junior, he averaged 17.0 points and 5.0 rebounds for the 21–8 St. Rita's team that was eliminated from the 2014 IHSA Class 4A playoffs by the Jahlil Okafor-led Whitney M. Young Magnet High School.