This Nova Southeastern University basketball star is vying for this coveted award

As a five-year-old, his nickname was “Mark Shark” because he loved to swim.

Now, as a 6-6, 230-pound, 23-year-old senior for the NSU Sharks men’s basketball team, that name fits Mark Matthews better than ever.

Matthews is the star player for a Sharks team that is ranked 14th in the nation in NCAA Division II. He has earned his 21.8 scoring average by relentlessly barreling toward the rim, which also helps explain his ridiculously high shooting percentage (61.8). He ranks second in the league in scoring, third in assists (5.2) and field-goal percentage and eighth in rebounds (7.3).

And, like a true shark, Matthews methodically chews up his prey, no matter how big or how small the opponent. Ask Matthews if he deserves to be the first player in program history to earn Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year honors, and you will get a confident response.

“One-thousand percent,” Matthews told the Miami Herald, without hesitation. “If I don’t get [the award], I think it’s a scam.

“If you look at my numbers and my consistency and how I affect the game, it should be a unanimous decision. Getting to the Elite Eight and beyond as a team is my No. 1 priority, but I firmly believe I should win the award.”

The league is expected to announce their choice by Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday night, second-seeded NSU (21-5, 15-5) will host seventh-seeded Rollins (14-14, 8-12) at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the SSC tournament.

Matthews is playing for his fourth college in five years. He joined NSU last season, leading the Sharks to a 29-4 record and the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Elite Eight.

NSU ended its season with a 91-81 loss to a New Hampshire school, Saint Anselm College, but Matthews did his part in that game with 31 points and 13 rebounds.

Third-year NSU coach Jim Crutchfield, who took over a 6-20 team and has quickly transformed the Sharks into a national power, said Matthews has different facets to his personality — a harder edge on the court and a softer side away from basketball.

“He’s great at community events,” Crutchfield said, “especially with kids.”

Matthews admits there’s a difference in him when he steps on the court.

“I play with a certain swagger,” he said, “and some people don’t like that.”

JERSEY TO FLORIDA

Born in New Jersey, Matthews and his family soon moved to Fort Myers, where Mark’s three older sisters became high school swimmers.

Matthews, though, quickly gave up the water for the gym.

When he was about nine, he would sneak in to the Estero Recreation Center to try to play pick-up basketball against the big boys, ages 16 to 21.

“He was the gym rat everyone knew,” said his father, Mark Matthews Sr. “Sometimes they would let him play if they were short a body. But the age requirement to get into the gym without a parent was 15, and sometimes they would kick him out.”

That didn’t slow down Matthews, who was there so often that one night he even filled in when the wheelchair-basketball guys were short a player.

“After that, he played with those guys once a week for about two years,” Matthews Sr. said.

Matthews attended Fort Myers High and made first-team All-State, averaging 25.8 points and 9.5 rebounds as a senior. He also set school records for career points and rebounds.

From there, Matthews’ college journey took him from NCAA Division I (UNC-Wilmington) to Division II (USC Aiken) and back to Division I (Florida Gulf Coast).

UNC-Wilmington lost to Duke in the NCAA Tournament in Matthews’ one year there, but he didn’t get many minutes that season. He didn’t like the remote, rural lifestyle in his second college stop, in Aiken, South Carolina, and he bolted from Florida Gulf Coast after coach Joe Dooley left for East Carolina.

At that point, Matthews contacted Crutchfield.

“He has a system that I think is rare because players make a lot of decisions and are free,” Matthews said of Crutchfield. “I was taught at a young age to play all five positions and to know the game. His system fit my style.”

MATTHEWS’ EVOLUTION

This is the first time since high school that Matthews has spent more than one year at any institution. Beyond finally fitting in, Matthews has also changed his game from high school, when he was a three-point bomber.

In an incredible shift, Matthews has taken just two three-pointers this season, missing them both.

“I don’t just settle for perimeter shots anymore,” Matthews said. “The mid-range is a lost area for some guys. But if you can score in the mid-range, you can be dominant.”

Said Crutchfield: “No one told him not to shoot three-pointers. He’s just so effective getting to the rim.”

Matthews has also changed his body, getting stronger. With just 10-percent body fat, Matthews can squat 355 pounds at least three times, and he can do 25 straight pull-ups.

But Matthews is certainly not a perfect player.

Asked about his defense, Crutchfield laughed and said: “Next question.”

Matthews, Crutchfield said, is more comfortable in the half-court and has had to adjust to becoming the full-court defender the coach demands in his system.

“He has made some big stops, but he plays defense sporadically,” Crutchfield said. “If there’s anywhere he needs to improve, it’s on defense.”

Matthews, who has a 3.0 grade-point average, is set to graduate this spring. He’s majoring in general studies with a concentration in sports management and psychology. He’d love a shot at pro ball, and his dream job after that is to be employed in an NBA front office, working on analytics, trades and the salary cap.

“He’s a sports junkie,” Crutchfield said. “He’s like a walking encyclopedia for basketball and football stats.”