Meet the Freshmen: Santa Clara’s Matt Hubbard

Growing up as one of the only people taller than 6’5” in a town of 4,600 people must have been an interesting experience for Matt Hubbard. The little farming town of Colville, Washington usually doesn’t produce many Division-1 athletes, but every once in a while it will produce a special player. A former first team all-conference selection out of Colville High School, Hubbard was destined to play hoops.

At Colville High School

The lengthy, 6’9” Hubbard towered over his peers when competing for the Indians. Averaging 18 poitns , 14.5 rebounds, and 4.0 blcoks during his junior year, he established prominence as one of the better up and coming big men in the state of Washington. He followed this impressive campaign with an even more dominant senior season. Averaging over 20 points and matching his rebound and block totals from the previous year, he gained his second first team all-conference selection and led his team to a state tournament play-in game.

To garner interest from college coaches, Hubbard and his family made the enormous sacrifice of traveling over 350 miles across the state so he could compete in one of the most prestigious basketball regions of the country, the Greater Seattle Area. This region has gained national prominence as a basketball recruiting hotbed because of the numerous players it has sent to play in college and later the NBA. Players like Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson, and Brandon Roy all grew up and competed in this particular area. Hubbard’s skills were good enough for him to achieve the starting power forward spot on a top three AAU team in the Seattle region, the Emerald City Pioneers. Alumni from this team are playing all over the U.S. and in fact, this past year had three of its former players participate in the NCAA Tournament.

Hubbard’s impressive high school and AAU careers were noticed by college coaches and recruiters around the West Coast. ESPN ranked him as the second best power forward in the state of Washington his senior year, as well as the ninth best player in Washington’s class of 2014. He received interest from multiple WCC schools and was also offered by Idaho and Eastern Washington, along with Santa Clara.

Impact at Santa Clara

Hubbard’s commitment to Santa Clara University was highly welcomed and anticipated around the school. He has arrived on campus this summer and has begun to find a niche amongst his fellow big men. Hubbard has the ability to score, rebound, and block shots in the paint, but what makes him special and sets him apart from other big men is his ability to stroke from long range. He is considered a “stretch four”, which means he combines the shooting abilities of the typical guard with the talents of a big man.

Hubbard, like any other incoming freshman, will have to work hard to gain playing time and respect, but his potential is sky high. His combination of height, length, and skill are a unique and lethal combination on the hardwood. If he continues to work hard in practice and develop his game each and every month, look for Hubbard to make some noise in the next couple of years.