Among his other gaudy stats, AJ Matthews has four games of 20-plus rebounds and has blocked a shot in 19 consecutive games for Farmingdale State. Farmingdale state athletics photo

If you haven't heard of AJ Matthews, you’re not alone. But you should know the name.

It's certainly hard not to take notice. The junior stands 7 feet tall and has had a double-double in 21 consecutive games, the most in the nation. Had he not been sick in the first two games with the flu, my guess is that total would have been at 23 and counting.

Matthews is a straight-up nightmare for opponents. Teams will double and sometimes triple-team him in the paint, hoping the defensive strategy pays off against a player who bounced around at a couple of junior college programs before finding a home in Farmingdale.

The thing is, Matthews is smart enough to know that if two or three guys are guarding him, a couple of his teammates are going to be open somewhere on the floor. And if the defense is able to switch in time, Matthews just ends up with the ball again. It’s why he is pouring in 22.4 points per game and grabbing 16 rebounds.

His ability to make the right decision is also part of the reason why the Rams have two other players in double figures. Josh Smith is clicking for 15.4 points per outing and Dyshaun Flournoy is pumping in 12.7 ppg.

It’s hardly a surprise that the Rams are 18-2 overall, 14-2 in the Skyline Conference and riding the high of a four-game win streak.

“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t used to being the go-to guy,” Matthews said. “I’ve learned to get more comfortable in my role. If I face a double-team, I’ll try to kick it back out and someone is usually open because teams are so focused on me. It opens things up for my teammates, and they can also get it back to me if they need to.”

You would think that as tall as Matthews is, there would have been a magnet pulling him toward basketball at a young age.

Turns out, that wasn't the case.

“No one in my family had played basketball and I didn’t know anything about the game. I couldn't dribble or shoot," Matthews said. “I was a kid who just liked playing outside, you know, riding your bike and other stuff like that. I had no interest in basketball.”

Everything changed one day in high school inside an empty gymnasium. All Matthews was doing was shooting the ball around. He never expected to draw a crowd.

“The coach kept asking me as a freshman if I would play. I kept telling him no,” Matthews said. “One day in the summer, I was shooting around by myself and the coach noticed me. The players from the team came in, too, and we started playing basketball. I did pretty well.”

Well enough, in fact, to play part of his sophomore season. Academic problems derailed the other part of the season, but Matthews got his act straigtened out in the classroom and finished his high school career strong at Van Arsdale High School.

The Brooklyn native graduated in 2007 and attended a junior college in Tallahassee. He wasn’t eligible to play and moved on to take summer courses at Garden City Community College in Kansas.

Finally, during the 2009-10 season, he played junior college ball at Monroe Community College in the Bronx, averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game. He also blocked 83 shots.

A year later, he took his talents to Broward Community College in Florida and earned Southern Conference Player of the Year honors. He clicked for 19 points per outing and grabbed 11 rebounds per game. His next stop appeared to be a Division I school. He was originally signed on to play at Farleigh Dickinson but couldn’t go because he didn’t have his associate’s degree. He also didn’t have enough transfer credits to go Division II.

It was either Division III or nowhere. Matthews ended up finding a home at Farmingdale State.

“Out of high school, I felt like I had to travel around and see different places,” Matthews said. “But I eventually missed being closer to home. I wanted to play at a school where I could still be away but be close to my family, too. Farmingdale State has been a good fit for me. I’ve settled in and I love it.”

He has certainly made the most of his latest opportunity. In a short period of time, Matthews has the school record for blocks in a season (87), shattering the old mark by 20, and has grabbed a school-record 336 rebounds. The old mark was 329.

He also owns single-game marks for rebounds (25) and blocks (9).

Yet, as dominant has he has been, when you talk to Matthews, he is quick to deflect a lot of credit to his teammates.

“I’m just playing my role,” Matthews said. “We all have a role on this team and because we have learned to accept those roles, we have been successful. There are a lot of good players on this team and knowing they are capable of stepping up on any given night makes things easier for me.”

Matthews has also stayed focused in the classroom.

“Coach has given me a lot of help and he stays on me about getting my work done,” Matthews said. “I know that if I want to play the game I love and have a chance to be successful, I have to work hard in school. I keep that in my mind every single day.”

Matthews would love a shot at the NBA, or at the very least, a chance to play basketball overseas once his career is done at Farmingdale State.

For now, his focus is on helping the Rams compete for a conference championship and a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“We all came into this season with the mind-set that we want to win a championship,” Matthews said. “We know have the talent to achieve that goal. The big thing for us is to trust in each other. If we play well offensively and play hard on defense for 40 minutes, on top of working well as a team, we can accomplish our goals. We feel like we are headed in the right direction.”

Noteworthy

Catholic went into its Landmark Conference showdown against No. 13 Juniata with a chance to hand the Eagles their first conference loss of the season.

But despite having the Eagles (23-1, 13-0 Landmark) on the ropes in the opening half, leading 29-18, the Cardinals couldn’t come through with the win as their seven-game win streak ended in a 55-52 loss on Friday night.

The Cardinals (19-5, 10-3) had an opportunity to tie the game in the closing seconds but failed to get a shot off. It was their first loss at home since Jan. 14.

Catholic played solid defense, holding Juniata to 28.6 percent from the field. Yet, the Eagles still managed to get three players in double figures, including a 17-point performance by Natalie Glinsky.

Katarina Owunna scored 15 points for Catholic, which shot 46.8 percent from the floor. One of the biggest differences in the game was the turnover battle. Catholic turned the ball over 27 times while Juniata finished with 15 turnovers. The Eagles scored 29 points off of those miscues.

Liddic makes conference history

Spencer Liddic etched his name into the Centennial Conference record book on Saturday, coming through with the 43rd double-double of his career. The total is the most in conference history, and his 11-point, 12-rebound performance fueled the Mules to 71-66 win over McDaniel and one step closer to a conference tournament berth.

Liddic, who is also the career leader in the conference in rebounds, is the lone senior on the team. He helped Muhlenberg improve to 15-8 overall and to 9-7 in the conference. The Mules need just one more win to secure a spot in the conference tournament.

The Mules have actually been on a late-season surge. They have won five of their last six games and Liddic has led or tied for the team-lead in scoring four times during the stretch. He has highlighted the run with a pair of 27-point performances and is averaging 18.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game this season.

Quick Hits

Wesley women’s basketball player Jazmine Miller became the third player in school history to score at least 800 points, grab at least 400 rebounds (411), dish out 200 assists (217) and rack up 200 steals (211) in her career. Miller has 819 points and needs only nine to move into the top 10 all-time in scoring. She also needs just 12 steals to break the single-season mark of 80 steals in a season. ... Amil John of Brooklyn turned in an all-around solid performance as he helped Brooklyn cap its regular season with a win. John poured in 18 points, dished out seven assists and tallied four steals as the Bulldogs blasted Yeshiva 72-53 on Monday night at the West Quad Center. Tyshawn Russell clicked for 20 points as Brooklyn will head into the CUNYAC tournament as the No. 2 seed. ... The Gwynedd-Mercy women’s basketball team has secured the top seed in the Colonial States Athletic Conference tournament. The Griffins did it by extending their win streak to 13 with a 90-57 win over Neumann on Saturday. Freshman Shea Wassel scored 17 points as the Griffins avenged their only league loss of the season. ... Mike Coleman of DeSales and Adam Katz of FDU-Florham took turns rising up for their respective teams in a MAC Freedom game on Saturday. The two combined for 59 points, with Coleman hitting a jumper with 8.9 seconds to go to give DeSales a 59-58 win. Coleman finished with 27 points while Katz dropped in 32, including 18 from 3-point land.

Get in touch

Feel free to contact me about a story idea or share your thoughts on Division III college basketball. I enjoy interacting with the fans. You can reach me by email at brian.lester@d3sports.com or follow me on Twitter @Blester1993.