Eddie Matthew: The new Steve Nash?

There’s a buzz around the Eagles camp about 16-year old phenom Eddie Matthew. Assistant coach Dave Forrester told me he could flat out play and now coach Fab Flournoy is comparing the young point guard to a bona fide NBA superstar.

Fab was gushing in his praise: “For all the basketball people out there, Eddie is Steve Nash! Eddie is phenomenal. He’s young, still humble and that’s the great thing about him. His work ethic, particularly on the offensive end is great but we’ve got a lot of work to do with him defensively.”

Fab continued: “He has instant offense. Just give him the basketball and a little time on the court. Every time he’s got on the court, he’s got two or three shots in. He’s a joy to have and it’s always a pleasure when you’re bringing players up through your own programme. To have him come through the junior team and to have him with the senior team at sixteen is phenomenal.”

He clearly has youth on his side and Fab was keen to highlight how rare it was for such a young prospect to be hitting senior level, “He’s the youngest player we’ve had. Darius Defoe was the next youngest at 18. As a basketball player he’s not even a kid, he’s a baby. In basketball, you start to peak and come into your own around 24 to 26. So he’s ten years from being the player that ultimately he’s going to be.”

“He’s such a joy. I hope you get the chance to see him. I’m going to get him out there as often as I can. When he’s playing with the U-16s and U-18s he’s something special. I have to thank Paul and Sam Blake and more importantly Ian McLeod, who has had Eddie for the last six years. When he was about eight or nine, I was getting reports ‘Fab, I’ve got your next point guard. You’re just going to have to wait awhile!’, I left Eddie in Ian’s hands and he’s done a fantastic job.”

He signed off with special praise for the Eagles’ School of Excellence for nurturing young talent like Eddie: “At our School of Excellence, our coaches are committed to the players and the organisation. They do so much around the club. I get a lot of credit for the things I do around the senior team but those players already have the skill. I’m just bringing it all together. When they’re so young it’s our coaches who teach them and give them tutelage to use their skills and understanding and teach them how to become better young men and women.”

The future looks bright for Eddie and if he can even show a fraction of the skills Steve Nash can bring to the court, BBL fans are in for a treat!