4B — April 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
EVERYONE IN THE KNOW,
KNOWS THE
IS THE PLACE
FOR SUMMER CLASSES.
Washtenaw Community College offers a wide range of
Spring/Summer semester classes to help you catch up,
stay on track, or get ahead to ensure timely graduation.
BENEFITS OF TAKING SPRING/SUMMER CLASSES AT WCC:
▶
Earn credits toward your degree
▶ Smaller class sizes
▶
Shorter sessions
▶
Save on tuition
▶
Fulfill general education requirements
▶ Day and evening classes
▶
Still have time to enjoy summer
ONLINE CLASSES
WCC offers a wide range of online classes during the Spring/Summer semester.
Class schedules are available at WCCNET.EDU/SCHEDULE
Registration for Spring/Summer and Fall classes is now open.
“The reason why we’re here is because of you”: For Matthews, an end
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Charles
Matthews stood at the line and
made the free-throw motion. He
buried his head in his shirt for
a second. Missed the first free
throw. Bent his knees, stayed in
that position for an extra beat as
his teammates subbed out. Sunk
the second free throw.
Then, he made his exit.
Matthews didn’t even see
the crowd rise to its feet,
applauding the captain who
had done so much
for the Michigan
basketball
program. He kept
his head down.
“I know it was
over
with,”
he
said.
He was talking
about the game,
a 63-44 thud of
a loss to Texas
Tech that ended
an otherwise successful 30-7
season. But there was an even
bigger sense of finality to it.
Matthews
says
he
hasn’t
thought
about
the
looming
NBA decision yet. So do his
teammates. They don’t fully
admit what most around the
program
have
known
for
months, but as Matthews sat
on the bench for the rest of the
game, crying into a towel on the
sideline, it felt like the end in so
many more ways than one.
Assistant
coach
DeAndre
Haynes said, “He had a hell
of
a
career.”
According
to
sophomore
forward
Isaiah
Livers, “He said it was his last
year.”
And
Michigan
coach
John Beilein admitted himself
after the game, “Charles will
graduate, so we expect him to
go pro.”
This was it for him, and
everybody knew it, even when
it wasn’t said. But even as his
career flashed before his eyes,
Matthews did everything he
could to fight for what remained.
At
halftime,
when
the
Wolverines left the floor with
just 16 points, Matthews saw
the
frustration
instantly.
It
was all over his face, too. He
offered his own brand of stern
encouragement.
“Just don’t quit,” he said.
“Whatever you do, just don’t
quit.”
As the game slipped further
and further away, he did the
same.
“The way he was coming to
the huddle,” Haynes said. “Just
getting up in
everybody,
say, ‘We gotta
continue
to
fight. There’s a
lot of time left
on the clock.’ ”
In the second
half,
even
as
his
team
wilted
under
the
pressure
of
the
Red
Raiders’
defense,
Matthews
kept fighting. When he couldn’t
get anything from the field
either, he found his way to the
line, where he made 6-of-8 free
throws. He scored 12 points
— eight in the second half —
grabbed four boards and kept
Texas Tech wing Jarrett Culver
under 50 percent shooting.
And
afterwards,
he
took
responsibility,
refusing
to
answer whether the Red Raiders
were
the
best
defense his team
had seen. All he
said
was
that
Michigan didn’t
make shots.
Really, it was
just an extension
of
the
person
Matthews
has
been
all
year.
He used to be
the
quiet
guy,
but as a captain this season, he
found his voice. At the rough
practices, the ones where no
one wanted to be there and they
showed it, Matthews’ was the
voice
everyone
heard,
telling
others to speak
up, telling them
that they could
make the shot,
telling
them
to keep going,
telling them to
be accountable.
“It’s
just
a
major
thing
when a guy gives
his all,” Livers said. “ … He was
just a very good captain, man.
He had a handle on us the whole
season.”
This
wasn’t
supposed
to
be the way his
career
ended,
not after coming
back at the last
minute when he
tested the NBA
draft
waters
last spring. Not
when
he
was
clear from the
beginning
that
he was there to
win a national
championship.
Not
when
everyone knew that he would
soon leave for bigger and better
things.
But the whole thing was
bittersweet,
because
really,
Matthews made
the team in his
image — tough,
defense-minded,
competitive
until
the
very
end.
Without
that,
maybe
the
Wolverines
wouldn’t
have
been
in
the
Sweet Sixteen in the first place.
“It wasn’t always pretty,”
Matthews said. “But we found a
way. Plenty of times we got some
wins that was questionable. And
this team always found a way to
make it up.”
That’s Charles Matthews: not
always pretty, but he found a
way.
After
the
final
buzzer,
Matthews
left
the
floor,
walking through the tunnel
with sophomore guard Jordan
Poole’s arm draped around him
and a towel over his head. When
he got into the locker room,
Haynes had a message.
“You don’t need to put your
head down. The reason why
we’re here is because of you.”
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Redshirt junior wing Charles Matthews played perhaps his final collegiate game Thursday, scoring 12 points in Michigan’s 63-44 loss to Texas Tech.
Charles will
graduate, so we
expect him to
go pro.
It’s just a major
thing when a
guy gives his
all.
He had a
handle on
us the whole
season.