Matthew Hurt in Poland to play in 3-on-3 World Championships for USA
Sep. 25—ROCHESTER — Rochester's Matthew Hurt is again getting a chance to represent his country for USA Basketball.
Hurt, a professional basketball player, is one of four players on the U.S. team selected to play in the 23-and-under 3-on-3 World Championships. The event will be this Wednesday-Sunday in Poland.
"It's pretty cool," said Richard Hurt, Matthew's father. "He's definitely excited."
Matthew Hurt, a John Marshall grad, played two years of college basketball at Duke University before going pro. Before he entered college, Hurt played in the 18-and-under World Championships for USA Basketball and helped the team win a gold medal.
"He has a pretty long connection with USA Basketball," Richard Hurt said. "I think they see the value in Matthew and what he brings to their teams. He's the consummate team player, so they reached out."
The 23-year-old Matthew Hurt, a 6-foot-9 forward, was eager to accept the invitation to play for USA Basketball once again.
"We couldn't say yes fast enough," Richard Hurt said. "... The opportunity is a significant one."
The other three U.S. players are Jalen Lecque, Bryce Wills and Trey McGowens. Hurt has played some with Lecque. This will be his first time playing with Wills and McGowens.
The U.S. opens pool play on Wednesday against Japan and Italy and then faces Egypt and Lithuania on Friday. The championship round begins after pool play.
Hurt has played for the Memphis Hustle in the G League for the past two years. The Hustle are a minor-league affiliate of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA.
Hurt had a strong 2022-23 season in the G League with the Hustle. In 28 games, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game despite averaging a modest 24.8 minutes per contest. He also shot 59.5% from the field and 39.3% from 3-point range.
"He did all this while basically being a part-time starter," Richard Hurt said.
Hurt was coming off a knee injury that limited him to less than 10 games in his first season in the G League in 2021-22.
"Coming back from the injury, they didn't really know how he was going to fair," Richard Hurt said. "And the other thing they told us, to be frank, at the end of the season was they told us he was out of shape."
Hurt took that information to heart. He figured he was playing the season between 235 and 240 pounds. But he weighed in at 259.7 pounds with 21% body fat when he returned to Rochester following the G League season.
Hurt began a training program in Rochester from the end of April to the beginning of August. Over that period he dropped to 234 pounds with just 12% body fat.
"He worked his tail off," Richard Hurt said. "It's building towards this G League season. He's going to start predominantly in the G League and we'll see where it goes from there."
Hurt will return from Poland on Oct. 2 and training camp with Memphis begins Oct. 3. Richard Hurt said the Grizzlies told Matthew that he would likely get a chance to play in at least one NBA preseason game this season.
Matthew is expected to start this season in the G League with the Hustle, but his obvious goal is to play in the NBA.
"They (Hustle management) talked to him and his agent about him being one of the focal points of the team this year," Richard Hurt said. "It's a little bit different message we've gotten this year than we did last year from them.
"The hope is that he gets a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies or anybody else," Hurt added. "Because anyone can sign him to an NBA-type contract."
The G League regular season begins on Nov. 10.
Guy N. Limbeck is a sports writer for the Post Bulletin. His Local Notebook appears each Tuesday. He can be reached at
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