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Michigan sophomore Charles Matthews transferred to U-M from Kentucky last offseason and is sitting out the 2016-17 season, per NCAA rules.

(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- Charles Matthews admits now that, at this time three years ago, he thought he had this whole thing figured out. Back in 2014, he was the best high school junior in Chicago. He'd been recruited by Kentucky since that previous summer and was ready to commit. In his mind, there was no question how this would go.

First, graduate from Chicago powerhouse St. Rita's in 2015. Then, spend one year under John Calipari. Then, go to the NBA.

One. Done. Money.

"For sure," Matthews said. "No doubt in my mind."

It's a Tuesday afternoon and Matthews is on the first floor of the Ross Academic Center at the University of Michigan. He's in a cubicle in the back of the room, laptop open, getting some work done. The 20-year-old is pursuing a sports management degree from U-M's School of Kinesiology.

People seem to forget Matthews is here. Not here, in the cubicle, but, here, as part of the Michigan basketball program.

"All the time," Matthews said, "People will ask, like, 'Do you play?'"

Since transferring to U-M last June, Matthews has spent the last seven months in relative anonymity. He's sitting out this season as a redshirt sophomore. He's deep in the shadows, practicing, working on the scout team. The irony is that, for a program oft-criticized for not landing bluechip recruits, he represents the holy grail that's usually out of reach. When he committed to Kentucky, he was the No. 11 prospect in the 2015 class, per Rivals, and the No. 3 shooting guard in the country. Under John Beilein, Michigan has never received a verbal commitment from someone with such a lofty ranking, other than Mitch McGary. The program never recruited Matthews as a high schooler. He picked the Kentucky over Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State and Marquette.

Now, Matthews is Michigan's catalyst in-waiting. As Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton's careers wind down in a season that's sliding down the well, some are starting to wonder what the Wolverines will look like a year from now. They consider the program's three incoming freshmen (Eli Brooks, Jordan Poole, Isaiah Livers) and if they might be able to contribute. They wonder if Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson can take the next steps in their development.

The name that's forgotten is Matthews.

He smiles.

"I feel like I can bring what they'll be missing," Matthew said.

And, in return, he hopes Michigan can give him what he's been missing.

Let's backtrack to last spring.

Matthews' freshman year at Kentucky produced 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. His playing time was squeezed. By season's end, he was no closer to the NBA than your average season-ticket holder. He sat and watched as Tyler Ulis, a sophomore, and fellow freshmen Jamal Murray, Skal Labissiere and Isaiah Briscoe all declared for the NBA draft (Briscoe ultimately returned). Matthews was left looking predicament in the eye. His plan didn't work and a new fleet of five-stars were on there way to Lexington.

There also was surgery to tend to. Matthews' underwhelming year at Kentucky concluded with core muscle repair surgery. That, according to Matthews, led to time off and "self-reflection."

"You know," he added, "trying to figure out who I am."

He realized he wasn't a Kentucky basketball player. Or at least everyone's idea of a Kentucky basketball player. It was a hollowing conclusion. Back when he was in AAU, Matthews played above his age group on a MeanStreets team featuring Ulis, Paul White (Syracuse) and Tyler Wideman (Butler). He was the youngest, but held his own. The hype followed. To this day, Matthews remembers some of older guys he saw -- Karl Towns, Jahlil Okafor, others -- and admits, "I thought I was just as good."

At the time, that belief was corroborated when Calipari came calling. Being recruited by Kentucky is the ultimate validation for a player -- "You become a separate breed," Matthews explained -- and it becomes the lens through which that player is viewed and rated. Each is tagged and tracked like a FedEx package, seeing where the sure-fire one-and-done talent lands.

Matthews bought in because he was a natural. He wasn't one of those kids playing AAU ball in grade school. In middle school, he cared more about skateboarding and "every kind of music you can imagine." Basketball was another hobby, one he happened to be exceedingly good at.

"I used to be this tall, skinny kid with skinny jeans on, trying to be a skateboarder," Matthews said. "I always loved basketball, don't get me wrong, but it's crazy how life turns."

He attended St. Rita High School, an all-boys Catholic school on the southwest side of Chicago. While developing into one of the best players in the city, and then in America, he played alongside his brother Dominique, now a senior at UIC; Tony Hicks, now at Louisville; and Northwestern sophomore forward Vic Law. Matthews broke out as a sophomore, blossomed as a junior and ran the team as a senior, averaging 21.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

"I just played as a kid," Matthews said. "I never even worked on my game seriously until my sophomore year."

It all came so easy. So, too, he figured, would the road to the NBA.

It wasn't until his freshman year at Kentucky ended that Matthews realized he'd been profoundly naive.

"That was a thing I had to come to reality with," Matthews said, leaning over the desk, elbows on the table, nodding. "Everybody's journey is different. I thought everything I did in high school would translate. It doesn't work like that, not for everybody."

As a transfer, Matthews is relegated to Michigan's scout team. He's permitted to practice and attend home games, but cannot travel with the Wolverines.

The departure from Kentucky was amicable. Calipari asked him to stay, but Matthews told him he needed a better fit.

Matthews' old high school coach, St. Rita's Gary DeCesare, reached out to Beilein. The two basketball lifers have known each other for nearly 20 years.

Matthews had a long list of suitors, but only visited Michigan and Xavier. The 6-foot-6 guard was swayed by a plan Beilein presented to refine his all-around game. In Michigan, Matthews saw a program known for developing guards that had a clear opening for a new star. After committing to U-M, he told the Chicago Daily Southtown: "I need to be an impact player and have an opportunity to produce like one. I want the ball in big situations."

Sitting in that cubicle, he was asked about that comment. Matthews has a soft voice that can mask his self-assuredness. Make no mistake, though, he's inveterately confident.

"It's not to say I'm not a team player -- I truly am -- but I know my abilities and I know what I want to achieve," he said. "I saw that I wasn't a one-and-done player. OK, I had no problem with that. I realized that I need to develop so that, if my dream does come true, which I still think it will, I'm going to go into that league ready to play."

He paused ...

"I want to dominate the college game. I want to leave my mark at the college level. So I kind of threw away -- well, not threw away the dream -- but it's not in the forefront of my mind right now. It's not NBA, NBA, NBA. I'm not skipping over college mentally anymore. I'm here. I'm settled here. I'm staying in the moment."

Those moments, though, are behind closed doors.

Ineligible to play this year due to NCAA transfers rules, Matthews is the star of Michigan's scout team. According to those who attend practices, he's described as follows: Slasher. Dynamic athlete. Shot creator. Lock-down defender.

Essentially, everything the Wolverines are currently missing.

"When we go five-on-five, he does some things where you stop and say, 'Wow,'" Zak Irvin said. "He's going to be something special."

Beilein is careful not to preordain Matthews. One of the grand traditions in college basketball is for the redshirt player -- the one no one gets to see -- to be billed as a team's best player. Beilein avoids the pitfall. He has a yearning look, though, when he says, "He would really help us right now."

"He does things in practice that we haven't seen since (Tim Hardaway Jr.)," Beilein added. "He's probably a combination of Hardaway and Glenn Robinson III. That's a good combination to have."

The fact remains, however, that Matthews was given a chance at Kentucky. He didn't wallow on the end of the bench. Calipari played him double-digit minutes in 19 games last year. The production just was not there. For the season, he only made 23 shots for 61 points while appearing in all 37 games. There was heavy frustration.

"I wasn't the most patient guy," he said.

The irony, of course, is that now Matthews is taking the most patient route, spending a full year working on his game and figuring out who he wants to be. He's had to operate with the cognitive dissonance of a child on Christmas Eve: "I try to avoid hypothetical thinking -- what I would be doing if I were playing this year. I don't need those false ideas."

Having spent the last three years sorting through various personas, this is who Charles Matthews is now.

He's waiting.

Just like everyone else.