Matthew Hurt's 2023-24 pro basketball season was a whirlwind of activity
Apr. 30—Rochester's Matthew Hurt is now enjoying the offseason at the conclusion of his 2023-24 professional basketball season that included a whirlwind of activity.
Hurt, a 2019 John Marshall graduate, had three major stops during the season. He spent the majority of the year in the G League with the Memphis Hustle. But he also had two 10-day NBA contracts with the Memphis Grizzlies as well as a brief outing with the U.S. men's AmeriCup qualifying team.
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward played in 22 games in the G League with the Hustle during the season. He finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 20.5 points per game while shooting 50.3% from the floor and 40.7% from 3-point range. He also averaged 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and a team-leading 1.3 blocks per game.
During his two 10-day stints in the NBA, Hurt appeared in eight games with the Grizzlies. He averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Hurt shot 35.3% from the floor and 25.0% from the 3-point line.
Prior to his second NBA stint, Hurt, who turned 24 on April 20, was one of 12 players selected by USA Basketball to play for the U.S. men's AmeriCup qualifying team.
Hurt appeared in one game for the U.S. and scored 13 points in 20 minutes in a 100-79 win over Cuba in Orlando. He was in Cuba for a second qualifying game when he was signed to a second 10-day contract with the Grizzlies so he returned to Memphis.
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Katie Hurt, Matthew's younger sister, recently completed her sophomore women's basketball season at Division I Lehigh University.
She is a 5-11 reserve guard/forward.
Hurt, a 2022 John Marshall grad, appeared in seven games for Lehigh during the 2023-24 season. She made her only field-goal attempt of the season, which was a 3-pointer. She added one steal to go along with her three points.
Lehigh finished with a 17-13 record.
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Lilly Meister, who was a teammate of Katie Hurt's at John Marshall, wrapped her sophomore women's basketball season at Indiana University.
Meister, a 6-3 reserve forward, played in all 32 games for the Hoosiers in the 2023-24 season. She averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game while shooting a stellar 71.4% from the field.
She scored a career-high 13 points while shooting 5-for-8 from the floor during a Big Ten Conference win over Northwestern.
Meister helped Indiana finish 26-6. The Hoosiers reached the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 before suffering a narrow 79-75 loss to event national champion South Carolina.
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The John Marshall baseball team will pay tribute to former Rockets coach Lou Branca prior to a game against city rival Century on Tuesday, April 30. The Rockets had planned a tribute to the coach earlier this season, but the game was rained out.
Branca died in January of 2023 at the age of 94.
The game will be played at John Adams Middle School and the tribute will be at 4:45 p.m. prior to the 5 p.m. start. A number of former John Marshall players are expected to attend as well as former Mayo baseball coach Dale Massey.
Branca was the head baseball coach at John Marshall for 20 years, from the spring of 1967 until 1986. He guided the Rockets to three Big Nine Conference titles in that span. He had previously led Faribault to a Big Nine Conference title.
Branca won more than 300 games as a baseball coach at JM.
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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