Senior point guard Matt Greene is wrapping up his final semester of school, and quite possibly his final season of competitive basketball – as a player.
Greene knows the game inside and out, similar to quarterbacks and catchers in their knowledge of their chosen game. In basketball, a point guard is often described as a floor general. They call the plays, change direction on the fly and essentially serve as the coach’s voice on the floor. So, the expertise of a good point guard can make him or her particularly qualified to coach – a title that might be in Greene’s future.
He may become even more similar to his look-a-like brother Jason who is an assistant basketball coach for the University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers.
“I have been thinking about what I wanted to do lately once basketball was over,” Greene said. “There is no doubt in my mind coaching is a great possibility. I don’t think I’m ready to give up the game just yet.”
Greene, who is the youngest of three, always looked up to his older brothers. He and his brothers Jimmy and Jason were three- sport athletes in high school. Matt says he has been blessed to be part of many winning basketball, baseball and football teams. Basketball was, and remains, his favorite of the three. He said growing up with two older brothers made him better both on and off the court. He was always ahead of the game because he said he watched and learned as his broth- ers went through challenges and situations. Early on, he realized he had quite the basketball IQ.
“Growing up and being around basketball my whole life, I was able to learn a lot about the game at such a young age. I was able to use that towards my advantage on the court,” Greene said. “I was always told by all of my coaches growing up that I had such a great IQ and feel for the game.”
The high basketball IQ is rare in today’s game. The coach can’t physically be on the court to be in his players’ ears, especially if the play is happening on the far side of the court. Coaches have used Greene’s knowledge and love for the game to their advantage. He has been their voice on the court ever since he was a kid.
“They basically asked me to lead the team and coach everyone on the court while still playing the game,” he said. “I noticed that our teams were always successful and that kind of inspired me to pursue a coaching career.”
His brother Jason feels Matt has the potential to be a very good basketball coach because Matt’s knowledge of the game is above the Division III level.
“He’s an inspirational players to watch and play with. He puts his teammates before himself and plays with a big heart and for the name on the front of the jersey and not the one on the back,” Jason said. “There is no doubt in my mind that he can continue his basketball career as a coach and mentor.”
For now Greene’s focus is on the present. The Cougars have half of the season left and they need their point guard to be focused on the task at hand – winning a Free- dom Conference Championship. There’s no doubt that’s all that is on the senior point guard’s mind.
He wouldn’t want to end his career any other way.