Samo Alum graduates to big time college basketball

Staff writer Jordan Steigelfest interviewed Jordan Mathews (’13) on his accomplishments on the college basketball stage and in the classroom.In March, elite athletes come from all over the country to participate in the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with their respective schools. This past month, Samo alum Jordan Mathews (’13) participated in the tournament where, for the first time in school history, Gonzaga made it to the championship game.Mathews began playing basketball when he was three,  and although his father was (and still is) a basketball coach, he was never pressured into picking up the sport. At  the beginning of sophomore year, Mathews transferred to Samo when his father got a  job on the UCLA coaching staff. With his brother Jonah Mathews (’16), who also played in the tournament for USC, both found their passion for the game and continued into adulthood. While making the transition to college life, Mathews has experienced many differences in terms of classes and work load. In college, he made purposeful effort to allocate a lot of his free time into focusing on his studies. “I may have class from eight until eleven, practice at twelve and then I’m done for the rest of the day. The rest of the day would be used for doing homework and I think that’s where a lot of guys fall,” Mathews said. “They see that as free time; it is free time, but you can also do your homework in order to stay ahead, especially the student athletes because the same deadlines won’t apply to you because you’ll be on the road or playing games. Stuff like that.”  Before transferring to Gonzaga to play out the last year of his NCAA eligibility, Mathews went to University of California at Berkeley, getting his undergraduate bachelor’s degree in legal studies in three years, but it was no easy feat. In order for him to transfer, Mathews was required to take six classes in the span of 12 weeks in the summer,  something his college counselor told him would be impossible. In a Santa Monica Daily Press article, Mathew’s art teacher, Amy Bouse, stated that she knew he was more than capable of tackling such a challenge.“If he says he’s going to do something, he feels a strong obligation and commitment to doing it,” Bouse said. “He’s willing to make those long term commitments.”In the beginning, Mathews did not enjoy taking Bouses’s art class, but as the year went by, he started to enjoy himself and ultimately started to take pride in his work. “I actually began to enjoy art,” Mathews said. “At first I didn’t really like it, I was like ‘eh I don’t really want to do any of this,’ but as the year went on I really got to enjoy it more and I started taking pride in my work. I still have my work to this day. I actually got a scholarship for a jellyfish I created in her class, a big time scholarship.”While he enjoys reading, taking photographs and going to movie during his pastime,  Mathew’s fascination with writing and groundbreaking legal cases that have altered society, drove him to take up legal studies. “I like writing, I think [I like] being able to write instead of taking class tests,” Mathews said. “I really enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the law and how it was incorporated with everything we do today. Some stuff that was done in the past would seem crazy if it were done now.”Examples of cases of that interested him in his legal studies curriculum are Roe vs. Wade and Brown vs. Board of Education. This past March, the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament was held. All throughout the nation, millions of people tuned in to watch 68 of the top colleges compete for the national title. One of these teams was Gonzaga University, ranked number one overall in the West Region. Mathews was one of five starters for Gonzaga throughout the tournament. During the stretch of six tourney games, he averaged 12 points per game. For the first time in school history, Gonzaga made it to the championship game of the tournament and faced off against four-time NCAA champions North Carolina. Sadly, Gonzaga lost, with a score of 71 to 65.“It was a special experience, it didn’t end the way I wanted it to, and it will always be a little bit bitter to me,” said Mathews. “It was a great experience. It went by really fast. Three locations, three weeks. I can’t really describe it. It’s one of those things you can’t understand unless you’ve been in it, but it was a great time and I’ll remember it forever.” As of right now, Mathews is currently preparing to enter the NBA draft in June. While it is incredibly hard for college prospects to end up competing at a professional level, Mathews is enthusiastic and hopeful for the future. As of now, Mathews is training in Los Angeles.