When Little is Big
Bates College earned a commitment from Luke Matarazzo last week.
Matarazzo, a five-foot-eight point guard from Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, could be a major addition for the Bobcats as he is a uniquely talented guard who has played to rave reviews at each and every step of his career to this point. He earned recruitment from all three levels of college basketball during his career before making his decision based on one overriding factor.
“During the entire recruiting process I was focused on getting to the best academic school that I could possibly get to,” Matarazzo said. “I realized the level of basketball wasn’t as important in the long run as the level of education that I would be getting.”
A top notch student at a prestigious academic institution that lists John F. Kennedy, Michael Douglas and Ivanka Trump among their alumni, Matarazzo has been a Dean’s List selection in every one of his trimesters at Choate and traveled to Rome to study abroad for the first trimester of his senior season.
Matarazzo began his career at Shelton High School where he was already one of the top scorers in the CIAC as a young sophomore, averaging over 20 points per game. Following that year, he transferred to Choate and reclassified to the class of 2010.
When he arrived at Choate, Matarazzo joined a team that had won only five games in the previous season and helped them double that total to 10 in his first year with the program. As a junior, he was the team’s sole captain and led them to a 14 win season, a Founder’s League championship, and a run to the finals of the Western New England Conference.
Matarazzo earned a variety of post-season accolades and honors following his senior season including First Team All Western New England, New Haven Register All-State, and All New Haven Tap-Off. He was also the recipient of the New Haven Tap-Off Scholar Athlete award.
Next up will be the move to Bates College where he appears capable of stepping in and making an immediate contribution for head coach Jonathon Furbush.
“I’m really excited about going to Bates,” Matarazzo said. “I thought it was the best fit all around. Coach Furbush is young, the program is up and coming, and it’s a really good school.”
“I also wanted to get away from home a little bit,” he said. “From being in boarding school to spending part of this year in Italy, I kind of like the independence that goes into being on my own.”
At Choate, Matarazzo will be leaving behind a tremendous legacy as the player who helped to build a program from the ground up. He was a two year captain, 1000 point scorer, and the team’s starting point guard for every game of his three year career.
“I give a lot of credit to the great people I have had around me to help steer me in the right direction,” he said, “from my coaches to my parents to my teachers and friends.”
Luke Matarazzo