Eliza Matley has improved immensely as a basketball player during the past two years at Carson High, and her hard work has resulted in a Division II scholarship from Stanislaus State.
Matley signed with Stanislaus during the early signing period in November, and she's looking forward to continuing her basketball career.
The 5-foot-7 shooting guard narrowed her choices down to Stanislaus, Chico State and Humboldt State before making a final decision. She concentrated her efforts in California because she wanted to stay close to home.
"I really had never heard of the school (before last year)," Matley said. "I'd heard of Chico and I'd heard of Humboldt.
"I went there and visited, and I loved the campus. I went to a camp there (during the summer) where I met coach (Sharon) Turner. I made an official visit in November and met the whole team."
Matley bypassed soccer to concentrate on basketball, but it was soccer coach Randy Roser who gave her some good advice on selecting a school.
"He said you have to love the campus, the coach and the team," Matley said. "He said to make sure all three are included (in the decision)."
Turner is glad to have Matley, who is averaging nearly 14 points a game, in her program.
"We are very excited about Eliza," Turner said. "Our team loved her when she came on her visit. She is an outstanding young lady who takes pride in what she does both athletically and academically. We preach family here, and Eliza fits us in that respect as well.
"I was able to see her play this summer in Oregon with her travel team. She also came to our summer camp. It was there that we really got to see how she interacts with others and saw her leadership qualities as well as her willingness to help others get better."
And, Matley has gone to great lengths to bring her own game up to par. She gave up soccer, and then joined Jam On It, a Reno travel team, after last basketball season. The travel team gave her some exposure, but she put in a lot of extra work.
That's what has endeared her to all of her coaches - Doug Whisler at Carson Middle School, Todd Ackerman at Carson High and Matt Williams at Jam On It - is her work ethic and drive to get better.
"As she gets older, she's going to get better," Ackerman said. "She's improved her game a lot (since her sophomore year). She's worked on her shooting a lot and her ballhandling is better.
"She also a lot more aggressive than she was two years ago. She was a little tentative back then. She needs to be a little more consistent shooting the ball, but she has made a lot of improvement over a couple of years ago. They are getting a good shooter who will work hard for them."
Matley, who is Carson's best outside threat, said that Whisler, her eighth-grade coach, would open up the gym at the middle school nearly everyday during the summer so she could shoot. Matley said her old coach and sometimes her mom would come and rebound her shots.
"It got me ready for the showcases during the summer," Matley said. "This year I felt I was more confident. I can step up and take a 3-pointer when we need it."
Turner said that Matley needs to speed up her release. In high school, players sometimes get an eternity to get off a shot. That won't happen as much at the next level.
"Players close out on a shooter a lot faster at the collegiate level than they do at the high school level," Turner said. "If you have a slow release you will get your shot blocked a lot, if you are able to get it off at all. The game is faster and much more physical, so she can't be one-dimensional which I don't think Eliza is. That's a common thing for incoming freshman players."
Matley isn't somebody who camps out in the corner and shoots the rock. She has the ability to put the ball on the floor and create her own shot, and that's because she has become more adept at handling the ball.
The Carson standout said she wants to get even better at handling the ball because there is a chance she could play some point guard at Stanislaus. Even at Carson she handles the ball frequently.
"I played point guard in seventh and eighth grade," Matley said. "For the next year (this winter, spring and summer) I'm working on ballhandling. Playing the point is a whole lot of fun because you get to call the plays and set the offense."
Matley doesn't believe she will redshirt, and she's hopeful of getting good minutes her first season.
"That isn't something I can answer at this point in time," Turner said. "I think she will definitely get some playing time, but how much will be determined by how quickly she comes out of the learning curve that all freshman go through, and the adjustment to playing in one of the best Division II conferences. In our system, playing time is earned, so what she does in practice will determine whether she starts or not, and how much playing time she receives."
