He Has Waited for This

A former UCLA ball boy who still cherishes his memories of wiping up the sweat of such former Bruins as Kenny Fields and Gary Maloncon, Jason Matthews couldn’t have done much more to ensure a sellout for today’s game between UCLA and Pittsburgh at Pauley Pavilion.

More than 80 friends and relatives of the Pitt guard, a 6-foot-3 senior from St. Monica High in Santa Monica, will be scattered throughout the arena.

Afterward, they will gather for a luncheon and reception at a restaurant in Westwood.

Is Matthews geeked up, to borrow a favorite expression of UCLA Coach Jim Harrick?

More than a little.

His mother, Helene Greene, said this week that her youngest son has only been pointing toward this game for about four years, or since Pitt Coach Paul Evans promised during his recruitment of Matthews that he would try to schedule a game in Los Angeles before Matthews graduated.

“I just hope he’ll be able to play (well),” said Greene, who now lives in Las Vegas but arrived Friday in Los Angeles for her son’s homecoming. “As soon as he found out, he called and said, ‘Mom, the game is on for February, 1991.’ I think that was in 1989.”

Matthews, a summertime opponent and friend of several UCLA players, returns as Pitt’s leading scorer and probably the most dangerous long-range threat in the Big East Conference.

A starter in all but eight of his 111 games at Pitt, Matthews led the Big East in three-point accuracy and free-throw percentage as a sophomore, then duplicated the feat last season, when his average of 19.1 points made him the Panthers’ No. 2 scorer.

This season, he has made 43.9% of his three-point shots and 86.7% of his free throws, again ranking among the Big East leaders. He is averaging 17.6 points.

And he does it “with a whole lot of class,” Coach Jim Calhoun of Connecticut told the Pittsburgh Press last season. “There’s no baloney about his game.”

Echoed Evans: “He doesn’t have any behind-the-back, between-the-legs crap. He’s just a very fundamental player.”

Perhaps because of that, Matthews was overshadowed for two of his three seasons at St. Monica by Earl Duncan, a flamboyant guard who signed with Syracuse and is now at Rutgers. Then, in the summer before his senior year in high school, Matthews was joined by Brian Williams, a 6-11 transfer from Las Vegas who now plays for Arizona.

Even so, he averaged 27 points and was an All-Southern Section choice as a senior.

Still, in some circles, Matthews was not highly regarded. He was only lightly recruited by former UCLA Coach Walt Hazzard. He wasn’t recruited at all by Harrick, who was at Pepperdine.

Evans spotted him at an all-star camp in Pittsburgh.

“It was in the middle of the summer and it was hotter than hell,” Evans said. “By mid-week, nobody plays any defense and nobody really cares--they’re just waiting for the weekend--but he was still hustling.

“I liked him an awful lot right from the beginning. A lot of people didn’t think he could play at this level, but there was something about him. I just liked his attitude and the way he worked.

“Even when he played here as a freshman, people said he wasn’t ever going to amount to anything. But he’s had a terrific career.”

Matthews admired USC Coach George Raveling, who made a strong pitch, but Matthews’ parents urged their son to go away to college. He made recruiting trips to Pitt, Purdue, Clemson and Washington before choosing the Big East.

“Everything hasn’t been roses, but I’ve grown up a lot,” said Matthews, who adjusted to the cold weather and the homesickness and is only two classes shy of a degree in economics. “I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been very challenging, I’ll tell you that much.”

Matthews has developed a more complete game in his time at Pitt.

He has long been an outstanding shooter, developing his touch during late-night sessions in the back yard of his former home in the Wilshire District.

Hoping to improve his concentration, Matthews shot at night “because I couldn’t see the rim as well,” he said. Often, he wouldn’t stop until 1 or 2 a.m.

After his freshman season, he was picked to play for the United States at a World Championship qualifying tournament at Mexico City.

Still, Matthews saw flaws.

“After last year, people started to see me only as a shooter,” he told Mike Decourcy of the Pittsburgh Press a year ago. “I want to be a complete player, create things for my teammates as well as myself. Last year, people were just flying at me every time I was going to take a jump shot.”

Matthews spent the summer of 1989 honing his moves to the basket, improved his scoring average by almost three points last season, then spent last summer working on his defense.

“He has changed considerably,” Evans said. “Every spring, he came up to me and asked how he could improve. And every fall, he came back and had solved whatever the problem was.”

Through it all, he has maintained his shooting range. Today, he will take aim at UCLA.

“If we win, I can come home next summer and brag a little bit,” Matthews said. “If we lose, I’m sure they’ll run me out of the gym. They’ll probably never let me live it down.”