Matthew J. Nelson
Matthew J. Nelson (born ) is an Native American basketball player at Monument Valley High forward position his signature moves is his jump shot that he uses during one on one Situations' last minutes to create space and pulls a jump shot over the defender.
High school career
Matt played for his first year of high school. On the first couple of the season he sat on the bench but by the end of the year he had become one of the starring players at his high school for his senior campaign and became a high school All-American and played in some all-star games.
College career
Nelson played one season at Crown Point Tech in New Mexico. He averaged 22.1 points 4th in the on the team and 10.0 rebounds 3rd on the team. in leading the team to their first game in the season He led the team in scoring, rebounding, as the season went on. In the final game against Diné College. Nelson had 20 points and 10 rebounds. He also earned the Most Outstanding Player honors; in his efforts included a 33 point win against Diné College in the final buzzer of the game. Afterward, the head coach described Nelson as, "...by far, the best player in he ever had on the team It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line.
Nelson says that he originally planned to stay at Crown Point for at least two seasons, but having already accomplished everything he set out to do, he chose to abandon his collegiate career with the Coach's blessing, and declared himself that he will end his basketball days in college basketball. Some of Nelson's highlights in his time with Crown Point were leading his team to a 25-10 record, capturing the schools almost perfect season.
After the season
In Nelson's season ended in the 25 of the 35 games for Crown Point, starting every game. He averaged 20.8 PPG. Only Nelson and other players were the only Native Americans to play at the college level when they reached the plateau. And becoming the MVP at his college. With Neloson's help the Hawks improved ended the season 25-10 which was good enough for seventh place in the Western Conference (one spot higher than they finished the previous season).
Awards
- 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year
- 2002 Navajo Times All-American
- 2004 All-American