UConn-bound Emmitt Matthews Jr. to miss the rest of Wilson’s season with injury

Emmitt Matthews Jr. will miss the rest of his senior season with a broken wrist, Wilson High School boys basketball coach Dave Alwert confirmed Saturday night.

Matthews is a 6-foot-7 senior wing and 3A Pierce County League MVP who signed his letter of intent to play basketball at UConn next season.

“Lost not just a fantastic basketball player, but an all-around amazing student-athlete,” Alwert said. “You can’t replace him, but I have confidence our team will galvanize around this adversity and come out fighting.”

Matthews, who is left-handed, injured his right wrist in the second half of Wilson’s win over Spanaway Lake on Thursday. That win clinched the Rams of a spot in the 3A state tournament for the third consecutive season.

He did return in that game and hit another 3-pointer as part of his game-high 29 points and seven rebounds.

Matthews holds Wilson’s record for being part of the most wins in a four-year high school career.

He also played in Saturday’s loss to Prairie, scoring 13 points. But it was later Saturday night that he learned his wrist was broken.

Matthews was averaging 25.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per game for Wilson (20-5).

Wilson was No. 8 in the WIAA’s RPI rankings, which guarantees the school a game in the Tacoma Dome. The Rams would play the No. 1 RPI team, Garfield, in the regional round of state next week, with the winner earning a bye into the state quarterfinals.

This story was originally published February 18, 2018 at 8:00 AM with the headline "UConn-bound Emmitt Matthews Jr. to miss the rest of Wilson’s season with injury."