Unsigned Series Matt Cimino
The New England Recruiting Report’s “Unsigned Series” will profile some of the region’s top available prospects remaining in the class of 2014.
Matt Cimino isn’t a new name for college coaches, but it may be one that they forgot about for a little while.
As an underclassman, the six-foot-eleven Maine native was one of the top up-and-coming prospects in New England. He came up the ranks playing side by side with Noah Vonleh on the grassroots circuit, spacing the court with his shot-making and passing abilities and earning high-major offers in the process.
Unfortunately, Cimino soon became walking proof that high major offers are anything but concrete and by the time his final season at Worcester Academy was set to begin, he was essentially starting his recruitment from scratch with most high-majors having backed off and the low to mid-major programs assuming he was too good for them to get involved with.
The two months since have been some of the best basketball that Cimino has ever played. He’s averaging just under 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game while leading one of the youngest Worcester Academy teams in recent memory that has already taken on the likes of Brewster Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon, New Hampton, South Kent, and St. Thomas More in addition to their typical Class AA schedule.
Cimino’s revitalization has come in correlation to the development of his post game, as he’s playing inside-out for the first time in his career, proving his ability to score on the block in addition to his well known shooting range.
That’s not the only change we’ve seen though as Worcester Academy head coach Jamie Sullivan credits his captain’s maturation as the biggest difference between this year and last.
“It’s his leadership qualities,” Sullivan told the New England Recruiting Report. “He’s been put in that role and responded. He’s posting up extremely well and that’s a credit to [athletic director and former head] Coach Reilly, who has been working with him on that for the last three years, and his endurance is much better than it was last year.”
Cimino’s latest starring performance came at last weekend’s Hoophall Classic when he went for 22 points on 9-12 shooting from the floor while adding 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals.
But for Sullivan, it wasn’t the performance that he was most pleased with, it was the way in which he handled all of the post-game interviews with various national media outlets.
“I was so proud of him after the game,” Sullivan said. “The reporters all wanted to talk to him after a tough loss and he was saying all the right things. He was just so mature in the way he was talking about his teammates and mentioning all of the coaches who have helped him improve over the years.”
From a recruiting standpoint, Sullivan sees a number of parallels between his current big man’s situation and that of a big man from last year’s squad.
“He’s running the same race that Darryl Reynolds did,” Sullivan said of the current Villanova freshman. “He’s going to wait and find the right fit.”
While Sullivan said he expects Cimino to take at least three official visits once the season ends, he doesn’t have anything scheduled just yet, and when you have a highly skilled six-foot-eleven big man who remains wide open in his recruitment, that’s a recipe for quite a few phone calls.
“It’s been ringing off the hook to be honest,” Sullivan said, mentioning programs like Georgia, Virginia Tech, California, Vanderbilt, George Washington, Tulsa, and Rhode Island among others.
“He’s just mature and he’s ready for all of this,” Sullivan said. “That’s the beauty of doing that extra year…he’s ready.”
Darryl Reynolds
Matt Cimino
Noah Vonleh