Should E.C. Matthews Have Entered into the 2017 NBA Draft?
The 2016-2017 season marked the return of E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island MBB's superstar, former 2014 Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Year, and member of the 2015 Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team and 2015-16 Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team. The buildup for this man's return was felt among all of the Rhode Island fan base. Throughout the 2016-2017 season, Matthews made his anticipated return and helped his team with completing historic achievements that were not carried out in an extremely long time.
As a freshman in Kingston, RI, Matthews picked up steam as a potential prospect for the next level of professional basketball in America. From that point, he was viewed in the basketball world as a bona fide player of the year in the conference and a certainty to be a NBA draft pick. After the Detroit native's tragic ACL tear in his sophomore season, he has clearly never been the same player.
Most senior college basketball players have the best season of their career in their final season but that is not the case with this Romulus high school graduate. In his senior campaign, the lefty is averaging career lows of 12.9 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, and 0.8 assists per game. In addition, #0 of the Rams is having his worst season from behind the arc (31.3%) and it has recently looked like his three-point shooting percentage could fall below 30%. Considering how this season has gone for him on an individual basis, his prospects to be one of the 60 players who is selected in the 2018 NBA Draft look slim to none. Realistically, Matthews' teammate, Jared Terrell, has the best chance of being selected in the NBA Draft this year.
From the mind of an NBA scout, Matthews is not worth all of the hassle of using a draft pick on him. Foremost, Matthews is injury prone and his injury history is beyond worrisome, at this juncture. Tearing an ACL is already a gruesome injury. On top of the right ACL that he tore, the wing has also fractured his left wrist in the current season and picked up a left knee bruise. Moreover, Matthews has not responded well to the injuries that he has sustained. Likely due to the wrist injury, #0 of Rhode Island has been shooting horrendously from deep and he has shot numerous air balls, never giving his team an opportunity to grab an offensive rebound from the misses. Furthermore, when he suffered his knee bruise (a day-to-day injury), the 6'5" guard acted like he tore his other ACL.
On some occasions, E.C. Matthews has exhibited his weak mental game. Everyone knows that the redshirt senior tried to work on his mental strength while he missed the entire 2015-2016 season but the solution was only temporary. Sometimes, it is clear that Matthews thinks about his shots and some of his plays too much. He is susceptible to throwing up wild shots that have no realistic chance of going in and visibly showing frustrations and a lack of confidence in his own abilities during games.
As a fan of winning basketball, no one can have the desire to watch their favorite NBA franchise expend a second-round draft pick on a player with the current profile of E.C. Matthews. The probability of Matthews making it into the NBA is still considerable but he will likely have to start out as an undrafted free agent in the NBA and play in the G League or even Europe, at first.
Overall, E.C. Matthews showed his comradery by skipping out on the 2017 NBA Draft but he may come to regret it.
