Upper Merion’s Matt Faw commits to Holy Cross

Upper Merion senior Matt Faw committed to the College of Holy Cross Wednesday and announced his decision on Twitter Thursday.

“I visited there two or three weeks ago,” Faw said Friday afternoon. “I thought it went really well. I got a good feeling of where the program is going. They seem like they are committed to winning more than anything.

“It felt like the product they had to offer was too good to pass up. The Hart Center (Holy Cross’ basketball arena) is getting refurbished and completely gutted — a whole new court and facility.”

“It’s great,” Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer said. “I was ecstatic to hear that he had chosen to go there. I think it’s a great school, great coaches and I think he has an opportunity to play early there.”

Holy Cross, located in Worcester, MA., finished ninth in the 10-team Patriot League last season with a 5-13 league record and 14-19 overall. Most of the team’s top scorers from last season will be gone when Faw gets on campus, so he should have a good opportunity to earn playing time early on.

Faw also had Division 1 offers from American University, Navy and Lafayette College.

The Crusaders have been in touch with Faw since his sophomore AAU season and were the first school to offer a scholarship in the beginning of July. He is happy to have his decision made before the school year starts.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “Just so I can focus on playing basketball in high school.”

Faw, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged more than 18 points per game as a junior and led the Vikings to a 16-7 record and a District 1 Class AAAA playoff berth in the school’s final season in the Suburban One League American Conference.

In the upcoming season, Upper Merion moves to the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

Faw’s goals for this season are the same as they were before he made his college commitment.

“My goals don’t change at all,” he said. “I still want to go deep in the playoffs. I want to try to go undefeated in the PAC-10, win the whole league and then go as far into districts and possibly win it.”

Faw doesn’t have too much going on basketball wise before the season starts later in the fall. He plans to work out when the gym is open and play in a couple preseason tournaments with his teammates to shake off the dust before the meaningful games get started.