4B — April 1, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

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“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.

