By Tom Seipp, Sports Editor
If you’re a basketball fan on social media, there’s a good chance you follow @LethalShooter on Instagram. If you don’t, you should join over 1.4 million fans who already do.
@LethalShooter posts shooting tips, motivational quotes and clips of him working out with NBA and WNBA players.
What many people aren’t aware of is the name behind the brand: it’s Chris Matthews, Bona’s class of 2010.
Matthews grew up in the Washington D.C. area, attending three different high schools: Parkdale High School in Riverdale, Maryland, National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Maryland and Lutheran Christian Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
His high school experience wasn’t as easy as it may have seemed. After his first two years at National Christain Academy playing alongside Kevin Durant, Patrick Ewing Jr. and many other top athletes, Matthews had to transfer.
When Matthews transferred to Lutheran, they were one of the top two schools in the nation in preparatory school basketball. He played on a roster of 13 players; the entire roster went on to play Division-I basketball.
But, the reason Matthews needed to transfer wasn’t due to basketball reasons, it was because his SAT scores were too low.
Lutheran head coach Darryl Schofield received a ton of credit from Matthews, as Schofield helped Matthews pay for a tutor so he could be successful come SAT time.
“I didn’t see the awareness of schoolwork and his attention to detail for me to understand those things help me still today,” Matthews said.
Matthews loved his time at all three schools, saying he learned “greatness, toughness, education, handwork, that nothing comes easy and understanding as a man. There’s a certain type of excellence you have to have if you want to be great in life.”
Matthews enrolled at Washington State his freshman year where he played his first two seasons. He then entered the transfer portal.
Interest came from Syracuse and Georgetown, two schools who take a lot of threes which would fit Matthew’s play-style, but it was Bonaventure that stood out to him.
“When I talked to Coach Schmidt, Coach Macy, Coach Moore, they’re trying to build a tradition over there that I want to be a part of,” Matthews said. “I said to myself and my dad, ‘I want to be a part of something to help turn around the program.’”
Matthews’ time at Bonaventure felt like it was home.
“When I got there I was like, ‘wow, this feels like home.’ Everybody treats you like a family, it doesn’t matter the color of your skin, it doesn’t matter where you’re from,” Matthews said. “When you come to St. Bonaventure, it’s like ‘Hey, we’re all Bonnies, we’re all family,’ and that’s what matters. It’s like a place like none other.”
One of the main reasons Matthews ended up at St. Bonaventure was because of the head coach, Mark Schmidt.
“There’s a certain type of excellence Coach Schmidt wants,” Matthews said. “I was doing that. I was doing my job, I was doing my schoolwork, I was attentive in practice, I was paying attention, I was understanding the level of excellence on and off the court that Coach Schmidt wanted.”
Matthews says he has to be better “connecting with the coaching staff” and coming back to the school he once played at. His schedule is extremely packed, but he wants to make the effort to return.
Matthews credits the Bonaventure social media staff for keeping everyone updated on how life on campus is. His verified account often finds itself into the comments on many photos posted by @GoBonnies.
“I think they do a good job of keeping us connected with what’s really going on at St. Bonaventure,” he said. “How they post the sports, how they post the pictures of outside, how the forest is and how greatly they groom the grass there. It’s the weirdest things that used to stimulate me at St. Bonaventure.. They do a great job of showing the alumni why we missed that place, why we went there and the level of greatness that is still there today.”
Matthews was more than just a regular student at Bonaventure. As a student athlete, the memories he made on the court were even greater.
“With the energy in the Reilly Center, how can you not play at a high standard? How can you not dive on the ground? How can you not dive into the crowd? With those students behind you, you feel like you can do anything. When the students got hype, I got hype,” Matthews said on the RC. “If you’re not mentally strong in the Reilly Center, with those students and friars yelling at you, you’re not going to be ready!”
Matthews compared the Reilly Center (capacity of 5,480) to Washington State University’s home court which holds over 11,500 fans, saying “it’s the same feeling” when the crowd gets into it.
“Those are great memories, priceless memories,” Matthews said of his time playing at Bonaventure.
While Matthews loves his time at Bonaventure, he has much more to his story.
Matthews played professionally internationally in Canada, China, and Russia. After an abundance of injuries, Matthews had to find a new career much earlier than he expected. But, he called the injuries and having to retire early “the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Matthews has always been able to shoot the ball extremely well. He remembers a time in middle school where a friend of his asked him to help him shoot and he’s been helping people do that ever since.
Former NBA player Kevin Seraphin brought up the idea of becoming a shooting coach to Matthews. He tried it out and hasn’t looked back since.
Matthews prepares for each client he works with. He credits his time at Bonaventure when Coach Schmidt would hand out film on other teams as being the start of his preparation.
Now, Matthews prepares by studying his clients film on Synergy. He goes and sees all the mistakes that are being made, then shows them. His goal is to reverse the muscle memory to the “right muscle memory” to shoot the basketball.
Matthews worked with many NBA and WNBA players this summer, including Skylar Diggins and Kevin Knox.
Social media is where Matthews has become a star, using the name LethalShooter.
He’s created a brand since he’s worked with so many prestigious athletes and he’s able to show people on social media how they can improve their own shooting. Matthew’s has built his brand on “positive energy, nothing negative and equality,” he said.
Matthews said that he’s “blessed” to have the following he does.
“That’s what my life is about. It’s about reaching out to touch as many people as you can to change their lives,” he said. “That’s why God put us here. He didn’t put us here to have our gift and not share it with the world. That’s why, with my social media platform, I try to use that gift to reach out to as many people as I can to change their life.”
Matthews gives a lot of credit to Rebecca King, who’s been with him since he was at 30k-40k followers on Instagram, and his fiance Kristiana.
“[Rebecca] does a good job of keeping me organized and [Kristiana] keeps me leveled and organized as well,” he said. “It’s a tough job, but having those two in my corner have really helped make things less stressful so I can have my days scheduled out the right way.”
Even with over a million followers, the Bonaventure alum never forgets his roots.
seipptw19@bonaventure.edu
