University of Indianapolis landed a highly coveted piece on Monday in Matthew Ambrose. Ambrose is a 6’3” guard of Stevenson High School (IL) and played with the Quad City Elite. The senior had a long list of suitors of Division 2 schools. He picked the Greyhounds over scholarship offers from Hillsdale College, Lewis University, McKendree University, St. Cloud State, and Winona State. Ambrose took his only official visit to Indianapolis back in September.
When asked how Indianapolis won him over from his long list of offers, Ambrose went straight to the coaching staff. “U of Indy has so many great things about it. Coach Gouard, Coach Spruance, and Coach Aldridge are all great guys that have been nothing but great to me and my family throughout this process.” He also mentioned a few aspects of the school itself “I liked that the school is fairly big for a D2 school and its location right near a big city, Indianapolis is awesome.”
While many players are focused on playing Division 1 basketball, Ambrose was focused on other things. “Although all kids want to go D1, it’s more about the fit and where you think you’ll be happy and excel at. I found that in U Indy and just pulled the trigger.”
Ambrose truly emerged this summer playing with Stevenson and Quad City Elite. It all started in June winning MVP and a tournament championship at the loaded Riverside-Brookfield Shootout. The success continued in July by winning another title, this time at the NY2LA Summer Jam.
The guard has great range from well beyond the arc and can also put the ball on the floor to score in the mid-range and around the paint. Even with all his success and skill, Ambrose is still very humble, “I can improve on everything really. I definitely got to get stronger and have to be able to be much better on defense. Also, my finishing needs to get better as well.”
With his commitment out of the way, Ambrose is fully focused on the upcoming season and continuing the success from the summer. “With how las year ended, our biggest goal to get down to Peoria. I’ve seen so much past success in the Stevenson program and know what it’s like to go down to Peoria so that is what I want to experience and do this season.”