per STrib:
‘Little’ brother
Hurt’s devotion to basketball began innocently enough in elementary school. After his eighth-grade year, the hobby exploded into passion. The routines began with early mornings and late nights.
Younger brother Matthew was along for the ride then, often being dragged to the gym with Michael.
As those early weeks and months went by, with Michael quietly encouraging his younger brother, Matthew’s immense talent emerged. Both lanky brothers were sprouting upward and outward quickly — Michael has size 15 shoes, Matthew size 17. Both could shoot. But things came easier for Matthew. Michael, 18, the more outgoing and serious of the two, would key up a laser focus for every rep of every drill. Matthew, 16, the quieter, more laid-back brother, could saunter in the gym, goof around and drop jaws.
An incoming sophomore at Rochester John Marshall, Matthew got his first scholarship offer, from Iowa State, in eighth grade. When he came home for dinner that night, his mom, Jenny, immediately wagged her finger at him.
“Don’t you go getting a big head now,” she said.
Last year, Iowa coach Fran McCaffery saw Matthew, who is 6-9, at an open gym and told him he was going to end up being an NBA lottery pick. This spring, Xavier coach Chris Mack saw Matthew at a tournament and thought he must be a top-50 player. When he scanned the 2017 rankings, he didn’t see his name. Then the reality hit him: Matthew was in the 2019 class. He was a freshman.
http://www.startribune.com/from-cou...hers-hunger-for-basketball-success/387547501/
Go Gophers!!
