Galloway, N.J. – Former Stockton University men's basketball coach Gerry Matthews will be inducted as part of the first class of the newly-created New Jersey Basketball Hall of Honor on April 4. Matthews' induction will be part of the inaugural The Basketball Reunion at the Prudential Center in Newark.
The Basketball Reunion is a statewide event that seeks to reunite former and current New Jersey high school and college basketball teammates and coaches. Matthews will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Honor along with a group of honorees that includes fellow coaching legends Pete Carril of Princeton University and Mark Corino of Caldwell University.
General admission tickets for the charity event are $100 if purchased in advance and $125 the night of the event. Proceeds from The Basketball Reunion will go to the Team Hill Foundation, whose mission is to assist at-risk youth through their interest in athletics. Additional information about The Basketball Reunion can be found at
www.thebasketballreunion.com.
The trio comprised the three winningest men's basketball coaches in New Jersey history. Matthews surpassed Carril (514 wins) as the state's winningest men's basketball coach in 2012 and held the top spot as his total grew to 603 wins until he was topped by Corino this past January.
Matthews never had a losing season at the helm of the Osprey program, amassing a 603-243 record (.713 winning percentage). He is one of just 18 coaches in NCAA Division III history to reach the 600-win mark and he ranks in the top 25 all-time in Division III in winning percentage. Matthews led Stockton to 16 NCAA Tournament berths and advanced to the Final Four twice (1987, 2009).
Matthews notched 18 20-win seasons and won nine New Jersey Athletic Conference championships, capturing league titles in four different decades (1980's, 1990's, 2000's, 2010's). His teams reached the NJAC championship game 16 times in his 30 seasons and Matthews was voted NJAC Coach of the Year nine times by his peers.
Matthews arrived at Stockton in 1985 after a successful stint at the high school level in which he went 228-98 and won two state championships in 13 years at Long Branch and Rumson-Fair Haven. In just his second season, he led the Ospreys to the 1987 NCAA Final Four after winning his first NJAC championship, which Stockton successfully defended in 1988.
During the 1990's, Matthews' teams earned six NCAA Tournament berths and won two NJAC crowns (1996-97). The program underwent a resurgence a decade later with three straight NCAA appearances from 2008-10. Stockton won NJAC titles in 2008 and 2009. After reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2008, Matthews helmed the Ospreys to their greatest season ever in 2009 as they set a school record with 30 wins and reached the NCAA championship game.
Stockton's run of success under Matthews continued with three straight NJAC titles from 2014-16. Matthews began racking up milestones as well. He collected win number 500 with an 83-60 rout of North Carolina Wesleyan on January 3, 2012. Matthews became the winningest coach in New Jersey men's basketball history with a 78-58 triumph over Farmingdale State on November 17, 2012 that gave him 515 wins, one more than Carril.
Matthews hit the 600-win plateau with a 76-56 victory over Kean on February 13, 2016. His 603rd and final win came two weeks later as the Ospreys topped The College of New Jersey 60-53 to earn Stockton's ninth NJAC championship under Matthews's direction.
