In the short, two-year history of the Evergreen Christian (VA) boys basketball program, 2024 guard Matthew Shelton has left an indelible mark.

The 6-foot-5, 188-pound Shelton eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this month, and helped lead the Eagles to a 22-9 record and the No. 5 seed in the Metro Private School Conference Tournament. He led Evergreen Christian in scoring (21.1) steals (1.8) and blocks (1.2) per game, while finishing second in rebounds (6.6) and assists (3.3).

Shelton holds Division I scholarship offers from Bethune-Cookman, Loyola (Md.), Mount St. Mary’s and New Jersey Institute of Technology.

I recently caught up with Shelton to discuss his senior year, his time at Evergreen Christian, his game, his recruitment, and more: 

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR SENIOR SEASON?

“My senior year has been a dream, really. I reached my 1,000th point this year, my team’s got a great winning record - we just got, like, our [22nd] win - and I really think I’m putting up better numbers than last year, so there’s nothing I can really complain about.”

INDIVIDUALLY AND TEAM-WISE, WHAT HAS BEEN THE KEY TO THAT SUCCESS?

‘Team-wise, we finally figured out how to play together, you know? We figured out our roles and we move together really well. And individually, the key to my success is my teammates making shots and opening up the floor for me. I usually drive to the basket, and if they're hitting 3-point shots, the other team has got to respect that and they leave the lane wide open for me.”

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE STRENGTHS OF YOUR GAME?

“I’m really good at getting to the basket, for sure. I’m good at finding the open man, and defensively I play great help defense and block shots from over the top. Now and then I hit the open 3 - a little catch and shoot.”

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST AREAS YOU’D LIKE TO IMPROVE?

“I want to improve my ball handling a lot more, where I can bring up the ball and no one’s worried about me ever getting stripped and I can get us into the offense. I want to work on my rebounding as well - boxing out and getting stronger and grabbing the tough rebounds. Defensively as well, I want to work on putting more pressure on the ball and cutting people off from their spots.”

WHAT LED YOU TO EVERGREEN CHRISTIAN?

“My trainer knows [Evergreen coach Joe Philogene], and so when I was at my old school [Woodgrove] I was training with him, and told me that I was too good to be playing for my old school. He said I should check out Evergreen. So I went and I played with them for a summer and I really liked the level that we were playing at, so I transferred there.”

WHAT WAS THE TRANSITION LIKE?

“Basketball-wise, there wasn't really much of a transition - maybe I had to play a little bit faster, but I got used to that when I played with them over the summer, so the transition wasn’t that bad. School-wise, I went from public to private, so there was a little bit more work, but nothing I couldn’t handle. [On the court] It was exciting. I love playing against good competition; I get to use everything I learned against them and it's just exciting to go all out.”

DID YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS GROWING UP?

“I had a little bit of, like, a football era for a while - from like, fourth grade to seventh grade, so it wasn’t like, serious. But other than that it's only been basketball. I played wide receiver. Really it was my Dad who saw like, I should stop playing football. He played football before and he said he regretted all the injuries and stuff he got so he wanted me to avoid that.”

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO OFF THE COURT?

“Honestly, there’s not much that I really do - my whole life is kind of centered around basketball, so if I’m not playing, I’m recovering. Just icing my knees or something like that.”

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THE GAME?

“I just like how it's a team sport, but there’s also the individual aspect of, like, beating your man, and you can see yourself progress, you know? Certain moves that you were messing up before, now you do it in a game and it works perfectly. You can see your progress, and I really like seeing that.”

DO YOU HAVE A TIMETABLE FOR YOUR COLLEGE DECISION?

“My coach was telling me to do it before April, but I’m not really sure. I’m just going day by day, really.”

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN A SCHOOL?

“Obviously I’d like to go and contribute right away at a school, but I also really want a challenge and I want to earn my spot on the roster, if that makes sense. Scheme-wise, I feel like I can adapt to any scheme the coach wants.”

DOES LOCATION MATTER?

“No, not really. I mean, I don’t think location would matter much because I feel like I’d be focused on basketball a lot when I get to college.”

ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU’D WANT TO STUDY?

“I want to get into exercise science or maybe, like, a business marketing kind of thing.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE GAME RITUALS?

“I usually tie my shoes on the court - like, I dont put them on in the locker room. I’ll walk out to the bench and tie my shoes there. I don’t know why, it’s just something I’ve been doing.”