Matthew Pettit - Men's Basketball

Matthew Pettit is a senior captain on the Carnegie Mellon men's basketball team. Matthew is pursuing a double degree in civil engineering and engineering and public policy.

Like other juniors in high school, I spent my spring break road tripping with my mom across the great northeast visiting schools. Providence, Rhode Island was supposed to be the last stop on the trip and it would be a long drive back to Ann Arbor. However, plans changed when one of my friends mentioned in passing a good engineering school located in Pittsburgh. That school, Carnegie Mellon, instead became not only my final college visit on our spring break trek but also my home for the last four years.

My first two years here placed me on a veteran team which left me fighting for any playing time I could get. Naturally I enjoyed the challenge, playing against bigger and stronger teammates. The intensity and teamwork that was put forth by the team in practices propelled us to two very successful seasons ending in an ECAC tournament championship and a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament. Along with the enjoyment that comes with winning games, I also had the pleasure of being around such an entertaining team. I don’t think there was a time when I didn’t crack a smile hanging out with the upperclassmen. There were many talks about the rigors of college with the extra commitment that is athletics. However, these concerns of balancing academics and athletics were taken head on using the same determination that I, along with my teammates, learned on the court every day.

With many of my original teammates graduating, I would be one of the few upperclassmen left on this young inexperienced team that had a lot to prove. A new challenge that quickly presented itself this season was the issue of how to bring together 15 players from very diverse backgrounds and mold us into one well-oiled machine. Unfortunately, I’ve had a good bit of time to think about this dilemma, first as I spent the majority of preseason out with an ankle sprain and more recently as I missed a couple games with a concussion. I have always been one to lead by example, which was impossible to do while lying in a bed with a concussion as the rest of my team practiced. However, instead of discouraging me, these setbacks have taught me to become a better motivator of my teammates while also motivating myself, realizing and appreciating the short time I have left in my career. As I have taken much away from my captains, I hope I have instilled the same qualities in our underclassmen for the rest of their time as Tartans.

The UAA is Division III’s premier conference, traveling every other weekend to other top schools in the nation while competing at a top level. Though enemies on the court, you develop relationships with players of those schools that will extend beyond college. You will not find these attributes anywhere else at this level. In addition you have all the athletes at Carnegie Mellon which you naturally gravitate to, kids who have the same love for the sport they play and the same integrity when it comes to school. It has been a pleasure to play college basketball as a Tartan and spend my time playing with lifelong friends.