Matt Medeiros leaves his mark at Saint Joseph's

Matt Medeiros leaves his mark at Saint Joseph's

Click here to read original story - written by SouthCoastToday.com Sports Editor Jon Haglof

 

STANDISH, MAINE — Rob Sanicola, head coach of the Saint Joseph's College of Maine men's basketball team, heard a lot of good things when he first inquired four years ago about a scrappy, straight-shooting high school point guard from Westport, Mass. Last week, Sanicola gave thanks for the good advice and called Matt Medeiros one of his best (and easiest) decisions in 10 years at St. Joe's.

Medeiros, who led the Westport High School basketball team through some very successful years from 2007-2010, made the switch from high school point guard to collegiate shooting guard as a sophomore at St. Joe's, and according to Sanicola, over the course of the past three years he developed into one of "the two or three best two guards" in the program's history. Medeiros led the Monks in scoring as a junior (15.3 PPG) and as a senior (18.8 PPG), and last week, he was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team for the second year in a row, only the second player in St. Joe's history to do so.

"Matt is a tough, competitive kid and I think his stubbornness and his desire to get better were the keys to his success," Sanicola said. "He wasn't going to be happy with a few minutes a game as a freshman, and it turned out that he was everything they told us he was when he came here — a gym rat, a great student and a great person.

"With a player like that, there's no distractions, no problems. They just have to buy into the process. Matt bought into the process, and I think that's why he had so much success this year. He stuck with it and this was his year. We have an unwritten rule for new freshmen here, that you leave the team in better shape then you found it. I think Matt answered that challenge."

For his former teammates at Westport, it may come as little surprise Medeiros led St. Joe's in field goal attempts, too, on the way to becoming the team's top offensive weapon. But they might be surprised to hear that coach Sanicola had to sit down with Medeiros early in the 2013-14 season — after he scored just two points in a 65-60 loss to Southern Maine — to urge his shooting guard to shoot more.

"I think he only took like four or five shots all night, so we said to him, 'listen, you need to shoot more, we need you to shoot more,'" Sanicola said. "And this is a kid who probably had a sore elbow from shooting too much while he was at Westport.

"Matt's just such an unselfish player, and sometimes I think he'd rather just pass the ball and he's just happy to be part of the game. But he's also a natural scorer, and we needed him to get back to that."

Medeiros responded in a hurry, dropping in 18 points against Johnson & Wales two nights later, and he was the high-scorer for the Monks on Dec. 5 against Suffolk and Dec. 7 against Rivier University, with 27 and 29, respectively. Those three games, all wins, marked a big turnaround for the Monks after a 1-4 start, and it was a big turning point for Medeiros, too, as he stayed hot right through January and February.

St. Joe's hovered around .500 for the early part of January, and then, on Jan. 23, the Monks topped Lasell, 81-70, to kick off a nine-game win streak. Medeiros was the high-scorer in five of those games, peaking with a career-high of 32 points and six 3-pointers against Emmanuel College on Jan. 29.

"At the beginning of the season, I was probably only taking five to eight shots a game, either because I was in a funk or in a different mindset, because I was a senior and I was trying to spread the ball around, I don't know," Medeiros said. "But my coaches sat me down and said I needed to shoot more and that they were relying on me to score. After that, I was just looking to score"¦ still take good shots and make good decisions, but I had to score more.

"This year was, I don't know, I don't want to say weird, but it was an unusual start for us. I don't ever really remember having a losing record, even at Westport, but I think we were 1-4 at one point, and then 4-6. We got it going at some point and won eight or nine in a row, and we finished the season strong. I mean, you never want to be 1-4, but we faced down a lot of adversity at the beginning of the season, and I think that really helped us later in the season."

The Monks went on to finish the season 18-10 overall and 15-3 in GNAC play, taking second place in the conference standings and the conference tourney.

The postseason lasted just two games, but St. Joe's advanced through to the GNAC Tournament finals with Medeiros leading the way. He scored 24 in a 66-64 win over Johnson & Wales in the GNAC semifinals, and he had a game-high 23 in an 84-49 loss to Albertus Magnus in the GNAC championship game on March 1, his last game with St. Joe's.

Other accolades from the 2013-2014 season include three Player of the Week awards from the Maine Men's Basketball Coaches and Writers Association (MMBCWA) and four GNAC Honor Roll awards. Medeiros was also named to the GNAC All-Tourney Team, and he and Sanicola are expecting a second straight MMBCWA All-State First-Team nod. Word is he's in the running for Maine Player of the Year in Division III.

He finished his four-year career with 1,408 points, the 36th player added to the St. Joe's 1,000-point club, and he's second all-time in the program for 3-pointers made with 267 treys.

"This year, he had one of the best years for a two guard in the history of this program. We went back and contrasted and compared what we could find, and he really had a great year," Sanicola said. "He was a rock of consistency, and we rode him for a while. I mean, he had a good cast around him — we have three other seniors — but he had a great, great year."

"You always want your last year to be your best year, and this was definitely my best year," Medeiros said. "Looking back, I can't believe it's been four years, I can't believe it's over. But I was part of a great program, part of a great basketball tradition at St. Joe's, and I'm proud of that. When I look back at all the time in the gym and the full body of work, it's been a big part of my life and I'm grateful for it. I wouldn't do it any different."

 

Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on FacebookTwitter and YouTube!

 

Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.