College Commitment – Matthew Verkamp (2023 Sherwood)

On Wednesday, Sherwood held its signing ceremony for its seniors and three from the basketball team put pen to paper to signify their commitments. Jared Sucher Jared Sucher 6'4" | SG Sherwood | 2023 State OR and Breyan Kelly Breyan Kelly 6'2" | CG Sherwood | 2023 State OR had made their decisions known for some time to OIT and Linfield respectively, but for Matthew Verkamp Matthew Verkamp 6'4" | SF Sherwood | 2023 State OR it was his chance to confirm his choice as well. The 6-foot-4 swingman will be headed to college out of state at Cal Lutheran, and it's an opportunity he's very excited about.

"I reached out to them during the season, and I really had a connection with the assistant coach (Kyle Milligan) because he's from Portland," Verkamp said. "I went down there after my spring break, and I loved the location, and I met with the the head coach and I liked him. I just thought it'd be a great fit for me."

Milligan, who came to Cal Lutheran from Chaminade having also established a pipeline from the Portland area to there, helped landed Verkamp to start a Kingsmen pipeline of their own. Verkamp broke down what else he liked about the CLU program - and what he knows he'll need to do to prepare himself for that level of play.

"I definitely like the fact that they just won the SCIAC last year and they're bringing back pretty much the same team," Verkamp said. "So I just like how they've got areally good team right now, and hopefully I can get there and make an impact my freshman year. If not, then later years to come, I'll definitely be able to make an impact. I definitely need to work on my defense, just my lateral movement. Other than that, I think the offensive side will take care of itself. I've been shooting the ball pretty well my senior year."

A versatile player that can play both inside and out, Verkamp had a breakout senior season. He averaged team highs in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg) in helping the Bowmen reach the second round of the playoffs, and it helped him earn Pacific Conference Player of the Year honors.

"I didn't expect to win player of the year in my conference, but that showed I made a tremendous jump from last year to this year," Verkamp said. "I'm just really proud for myself and hoping to improve even more in the college experience."

Our congratulations go out to Verkamp and his family on his decision.