At the end of every USC men's basketball practice, the players have to make a plethora of foul shots and jump shots before they can leave. Most guys hit their shots and then either head to the locker room or hang around with their teammates. But if you linger around, you'll see some of Southern California's finest putting in extra work, which typically includes freshman Jonah Mathews.Mathews has a work ethic you cannot teach. The 6-foot-3 combo guard from Los Angeles came into USC with expectations to be an immediate contributor and he did just that. Mathews, who has a smooth and natural feel for the game, played over 20 minutes of action per game in his first season at USC. He was an integral part of this Trojan team that racked up 26 wins, a new program record.
While he suffered from the inconsistency that afflicts most freshmen, Mathews had his shining moments. The freshman poured in a career-high 26 points in an overtime thriller against Wyoming, and scored nine or more points in 10 Pac-12 games. Mathews has the intangibles to impact a game whether his shot's falling or not. And that's because, well, he's a Mathews.
"Jonah brings it every single day. In practice, off the court, he's a great guy to hang out with," said USC captain Jordan McLaughlin. "I played against his brother my first two years when he was at Cal. They go about it one way: when I step on the court I put in my hardest and give it my all."
That's the demeanor that Jonah and his older brother Jordan, readying for the Final Four at Gonzaga, got from their father Phil Mathews, one of the most decorated coaches in Los Angeles with over four decades of coaching experience.
"Everybody in LA knows Phil Mathews. He used to be a head junior college coach prior to being the head coach at San Francisco," said USC assistant coach Jason Hart, a Los Angeles native. "Phil's a straight forward, no nonsense guy. If you know who he is, you know what he stands for: family and basketball. You can't help but respect his body of work."
What Phil Mathews passed down to his kids from his decades of basketball experience is a strong work ethic and the ability to shoot. They're not exactly the Currys, but the Mathews family can really stroke it.
"They all shoot. Dad's good at shooting, Jordan (Mathews) is good at shooting too. Jonah shoots well. That's one of the key things," said McLaughlin.
"He knew where to go at all times, he had good instincts, and good feel for the game," said Hart. "We knew that coming in, but we didn't know how far along he was. His skill set goes without saying, but his feel and knowledge of the game is strictly from being a coach's son. He knows the game of basketball. He's been a surprise and he's only going to keep getting better."
Truth be told, Jonah wasn't always a basketball player despite growing up with a coach for a father and a brother who was obsessed with the game.
"Basically ever since I was born, my dad was a basketball coach, but when I got to fifth grade I was never forced to play," Mathews said. "I hung out with my friends. I didn't really get serious about it."
All that changed, though, when Phil Mathews' career took him to the University of Nebraska to be an assistant coach in 2006.
"In Nebraska there's nothing else to do, so one day I was playing basketball in the gym with my brother. He was like, 'You should start playing. Trust me, you'll love it,'" Jonah recounted. "So I started playing and my dad brought me in and said, 'If you want to play this game, it's going to be serious. It's not going to be for fun.' And I said, 'Okay.' Ever since then, it took off and he's been coaching me through it every day."
From that moment on, Mathews' love for basketball grew stronger and stronger. Mathews said his dad taught him how to shoot before anything else. Phil worked with his kids non-stop and not even his laborious coaching schedule got in the way of developing his sons' games.
"My dad did a great job of balancing his job and helping us with basketball. We played AAU basketball while he recruited, so he'd come to our AAU tournament and watch us play," said Mathews. "Offseason is when we got to training and got in the gym. During the school year, he came to whatever game he could and after the game he'd tell us what we need to do."
It wasn't just his father, though, as Jonah learned a lot from his older brother as well.
"My brother is a true lover of the game. He would die for basketball," Jonah reflected. "Watching him play excited me and made me want to be like him. He showed me the way and I'm just following in his footsteps."
Mathews, his siblings (two sisters and a brother) and his mother moved back to Los Angeles just a couple years after moving to the Midwest. Soon after, his father began coaching at UCLA, then moved on to become the head coach at Riverside City College, where he remains today. Jonah continued to get better year after year, ultimately developing a strong reputation as a college prospect that could really play the game. Phil Mathews' kids weren't going to fly under the radar."We knew we were getting a player that was going to come in, work hard and continue to get better," said Hart. "That's who he is. He's been doing that since he was really young. That's what Phil's instilled in him."
That's what makes basketball families unique. They can be your biggest fans and your toughest critics, but what's undeniable is the love they foster for the game.
"I fell in love with the game through my family, through watching my dad coach and my brother play," admitted Mathews. "Without that influence I don't know if I'd be playing today."
But Jonah is playing today, and he's starting to build his own career close to home, carrying on the family name.
"His dad trained him and his brother their whole life and now they're in college, so it's time for Jonah to keep the family legacy going," Hart said. "And he's doing a hell of a job."
Jonah might be exceeding expectations as a key contributor as just a teenager, but he's taking a moment every now and then to take in a special year. For the first time in their family's history, after all those empty gyms between Nebraska and Los Angeles, Jonah, Jordan and Phil Mathews are all competing at the college level at the same time.
"It's really surreal because I was watching my brother play when I was a freshman in high school and he was a senior," said Jonah. "For all my family members and us it was crazy to see how much we've grown, and how crazy it is to think back on how we wanted to be at this stage and now we're here."
This weekend, Jonah and Phil will have the opportunity to watch Jordan on college basketball's biggest and brightest stage at the Final Four in Phoenix. Jordan hit the key shot to help Gonzaga survive and advance out of their toughest game in the tournament against West Virginia. As he readies to rise into his sophomore year and take on a bigger role within the program, Jonah will undoubtedly lean on his family again for strength and inspiration, starting with the hopeful vision of Jordan cutting down the nets to end his college career.
