Matt Sylvester

11/10: SIGNED WITH OHIO STATE

12/2: I saw Sylvester play last night in a miracle shot loss to Princeton. Sylvester is the real deal. 10-16, 25 points, including 3-4 from the trey line. He altered and blocked numerous shots. - Mike Ryan

11/30:
http://enquirer.com/editions/2000/11/30/spt_moeller_star_upholds.html

7/3: "OSU lands Moeller forward
Ohio State's No. 2-ranked prospect will commit to Buckeyes today
Bob Baptist, Columbus Dispatch Sports Reporter. . . . Matt Sylvester, a 6-foot-7 forward from Cincinnati Moeller and the No. 2-ranked prospect in Ohio's highly rated class of 2001, will announce that he plans to sign with the Buckeyes in November, a source with knowledge of the player's decision said last night. Sylvester is the highest-rated in- state prospect that coach Jim O'Brien and assistants Dave Spiller and Paul Biancardi have locked up for the Buckeyes since they were hired in 1997. He chose Ohio State over Cincinnati, Dayton, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Utah and Xavier.

6/26: "I still like OSU and XU. I am visiting Dayton on Wednesday." - Matt Sylvester

6/14: "One of the hottest players this spring has been 6'7 Wing Forward Matt Sylvester from Cincinnati, OH. Matt has been sensational in early AAU action and is primed to have a great summer. He has been the MVP of three different AAU events and his jumper has gotten my attention. 'Matt is a very versatile player who could feasibly play every position on the court. His game probably most resembles a right handed Toni Kukoc.' " - MidWest Hoops

6/12: "Q: where do you plan on taking visits next ?
A: I plan on visiting Ohio State starting this week. Then I will visit Dayton, Xavier and Cincinnati. Then I plan on setting up my visits to Michigan State, North Carolina State, Duke, and Kentucky. Q: Do you plan on taking any official visits ?
A: I will take my eight unofficial visits and try to get it down to four schools. Then I hope to take my official visits during September. - Matt Sylvester

6/4: "Cincinnati's principal focus remains 6-7 wing Matt Sylvester of Moeller High. Sylvester is rising quickly on national recruiting lists because of his offensive skills and athletic ability." - Mike DeCourcy

5/23: "Glass City Tournament Notes. University of Toledo this past weekend. The 28 team event featured some of the top AAU teams in Ohio & Michigan, and a match up between Ohio's top 2 players: Jawad Williams & Matt Sylvester. The 28 team event featured some of the top AAU teams in Ohio & Michigan, such as Cleveland Top Prospects, Cincinnati AAU, Toledo Players, Toledo Stars, Cincinnati Prophets, & Michigan Mustangs. The 17 & Under Division featured the long awaited "Battle of the Titans", as the Cleveland Top Prospects with Ohio's #1 rated junior 6'8 Jawad Williams versus Cincinnati AAU with Ohio's #2 rated junior 6'7 Matt Sylvester. We asked both players about the impending matchup, Jawad answered, "I'm gonna give it to him". Matt's reply, "I will show who the best player in Ohio is". Well.... Matt and Cincinnati AAU definitely got the better of the matchup. Matt scored 8 of the first 12 point of the game. The 2 matched up against one another for most of the game. Matt finished with an unofficial 18 and Jawad had an unofficial 13. The final score was 73 to 66, but it was a 15 point game throughout most of the contest. The Prospects were without 6'9 Terrence Dials (#3 in Ohio), but Cincinnati was minus 6'8 Jordan Cornette (#5 in Ohio). This game was held in the Semi-finals and made the Final anti-climatic. Cincinnati AAU #1 (Black) defeated Cincinnati AAU #2 (Red) by 8 in the final. Tournament MVP - 6'7 WF Matt Sylvester - Cincinnati AAU #1 - MidwestHoops

5/12: I did some investigating about someone saying that the Sylvesters live a few houses down from Huggins, and I found that this is not the case. Both of their houses are pan handle lots and they are really next-door neighbors. I had no idea which house was the Sylvesters until someone said that. - Andy LaCombe

5/10: "- Matt...do you plan on signing in the early period ? - "yes, because i want to get it over with and out of the way so that i can concentrate on my season" - Matt Sylvester

5/8: "Love his game. He shoots it well to three-point range and can get his shot off expediently. Extremely savvy and can put the ball on the floor. He finds a way to get through traffic and get his shot off. He really helped himself with a strong showing. Sylvester lives a few doors down from Bob Huggins, but he's no lock to be a Bearcat." - Rivals100Hoops, Spiece Tourney notes

5/5: "right now i would have to say that my top 4 are osu ud xu and uc, but staying in ohio isnt a major deal for me. if i had an offer from a big time school out of ohio, i would give it some major consideration" - Matt Sylvester

5/4: "will be hosting his own message board on Our MidwestHoops website. Matt is a high major basketball player who is currently ranked the #2 Junior in Ohio. He is also ranked by Prep Spotlight as one of the top 75 players in the country. Matt is being heavily recruited by the following schools but still is open to others that want to get onvolved: Ohio State, Cincinnati, Dayton, Xavier and Utah. Ohio basketball expert John Stovall calls him one of the fastest rising players in Ohio. Here is a Stovall quote on Matt: "Matt is a very versatile player who could feasibly play every position on the court. His game probably most resembles a right handed Toni Kukoc." - Midwest Hoops

5/3: "Ohio Basketball expert Josh Stovall calls him one of the fastest rising players in Ohio. Here is a Stoval Quote on Matt: 'a very versatile player who could feasibly play every position on the court. His game probably most resembles a right handed Toni Kukoc.' Matt Sylvester a 6'7 190 Wing Forward from Cincinnati Moeller will be hosting his own message board on Our Midwest Hoops website. Matt is a high major basketball player who is currently ranked the #2 Junior in Ohio. He is also ranked by Prep Spotlight as one of the top 75 players in the country. Matt has been ever improving his entire career and is peaking at the right time for a college prospect. He plays for the powerful Cincinnati AAU summer program and will be attending the prestigious Nike Camp in Indianapolis in July. Matt is being heavily recruited by the following schools but still is open to others that want to get involved: Ohio State, Cincinnati, Dayton, Xavier and Utah." - MidWest Hoops

3/13/00: "Matt averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3 blocks per game last season for 10-11 Moeller, who lost in the first round of the playoffs to Western Hills HS last week. He told us that he'd attended around 15 college games this season at schools like Cincinnati, Ohio State, Dayton, and Xavier. Those four schools along with Duke and Utah are at the top of Sylvester's list. -- AllStarReport

2/26/00: Huggins attended the playoff game between Moeller and Western Hills High.

2/14/00: Carey Hoffman's post: "I saw Matt Sylvester play 4-5 times during Moeller's run to the state title last year and he was a remarkably clutch player, particularly for a sophomore on a senior-dominated team. He hit 8-of-9 shots for a team-high 16 points in the state title game, and had 13 in the state semifinals, including seven straight culminating in a 3-pointer to tie the game with 1:40 left to play....his gifts are an innate sense for the game, great all-around skills and a natural shooting touch. His father, Mike Sylvester, played at the University of Dayton and then overseas for a long time, including time spent with the Italian National Team in Olympic play. Naturally, Matt is interested in Dayton, as well as Utah (also understandable, as he does remind you of Keith Van Horn or the freshman at Duke this year, Mike Dunleavy). He has an interest in Xavier, although my understanding is he attended their home loss to LaSalle by 31, so that probably didn't help their case. UC's case would be strengthened, presumably, by a recommendation from Bobby Brannen, as well as the opportunity to see how DerMarr has been used this year, as I think Sylvester could end up a natural 6-7 to 6-8 two-guard in college. - Carey

11/19/99: "Matt said he recently took an unofficial visit to Ohio State. "I like Coach (Jim) O'Brien," Sylvester said. "I went there for Buckeye day. It was a lot of fun." - InsidersReport