Matt Cross

Matt Cross moves to the basket against Wake Forest in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 29, 2021.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Matt Cross drives to the hoop against Southeastern Louisiana in the KFC Yum! Center on Dec. 14.

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

Matt Cross hits the game-winning three at NC State.

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

The Cardinals celebrate after winning the Bahamas Championship.

Photo by: Tanner Probus

Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics

Position:
Forward
Height:
6-7
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Beverly, Mass.
High School:
Brewster Academy
Prev School:
Miami (Fla.)

Sophomore Year at Louisville in 2021-22

Double figure scorer in nine games in 2021-22, starting nine games for the Cardinals.
Third on the team in blocked shots with 14. He blocked 11 shots in ACC games.
Produced his first career double-double against North Carolina on Feb. 1 with 13 points and a career-best 15 rebounds. Cross knocked down 3-of-5 three-pointers, his sixth game this season with multiple threes.
Made his first start of the season against DePaul, contributing 11 points and six rebounds. He added 13 points and five rebounds vs. Southeastern Louisiana, also in the starting lineup.
Contributed 13 points and a season-high seven rebounds at NC State, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to break the tie game.
Scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds vs. Maryland, including burying a three-pointer that pulled UofL from a three-point deficit late in the game.
Scored 14 points, making all four of his three-point attempts, to lead four Cardinals in double figures against Navy.
Totaled 15 points, five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot against Southern to tie for 13th in scoring for a UofL debut. Cross suffered a dislocated ring finger on his right hand, but returned to play with the finger taped.

Freshman Year at Miami:

Sharp-shooting transfer who played his freshman collegiate season at the University of Miami (Florida) in 2020-21.
In 14 games as a freshman with the Hurricanes including nine starts, Cross averaged 6.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and made 20-of-50 three-point goals (.400).
Just the third freshman to start a season opener for Miami since 2004, Cross added 20 assists, 11 steals and seven blocked shots.
Matched a season high with 16 points against Louisville on Jan. 16, adding four rebounds and two assists while connecting on 4-of-6 three-point goals against the Cardinals.
Also scored 16 points against then-No. 24 Virginia Tech, making 4-of-6 threes against the Hokies with five rebounds and three assists.
Had four double-figure scoring efforts during the 2020-21 season and grabbed four or more rebounds in eight games.
Pulled down a season-high eight rebounds against Jacksonville on Dec. 19 and handed out a season-best seven assists against Clemson on Jan. 2, the most for a Miami freshman in three years. He left the Miami team in late January.
His father Jim played basketball at Salem (Mass.) State and his brother Nick played basketball at Florida Gulf Coast.
His former Brewster Academy teammate DeMarr Langford plays for ACC foe Boston College.

High School:

Prior to his freshman year at Miami, Cross averaged 18.6 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a senior in helping Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H. achieve a 37-3 record, a 2019-20 NEPSAC runner-up finish and a National Prep Championship title. Former UofL standout Donovan Mitchell was also a product of Brewster Academy.
Cross ranked among the top 100 high school student-athletes in his 2020 recruiting class, including No. 86 in the ESPN 100, No. 93 in the 247Sports composite rankings, and No. 99 by Rivals.com.
Earned first team All-NEPSAC Class AAA honors.
Averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game as a junior at Woodstock (Conn.) Academy, helping his team to a conference title.
Had initially chosen to attend Miami after also considering offers from Florida, Butler, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina and Texas A&M.

Personal:

Born Feb. 21, 2001 ... Son of Jim and Cyndi Cross … Has an older brother, Nick, and an older sister, Jess ... Major is sport administration.
Best moment of his athletic career to date was signing to play for Louisville.
Personal goal at UofL is to lead the ACC in three-point percentage and three-point goals made.
Enjoys playing video games, watching movies and listening to music in his spare time.
Chose to attend UofL because of the “basketball excellence and the demand of winning.”
Wears uniform number 33 because Hall of Famer Larry Bird also wore that number.
Larry Bird and Ray Lewis have had the greatest influence on his athletic career.
When playing basketball as a kid, he pretended he was always hitting the game-winning shot.
Best moment of his athletic career to date was scoring the game-winning basket with three seconds remaining at TD Garden in the semifinals of the Massachusetts Division 4 state semifinal for St. Mary’s High School in Lynn, Mass.
Most proud of his family.
Few people know that he has skydived. Also, he suffered a compound fracture in his right leg playing football in high school on Dec. 16, 2016 as a ninth-grader playing for St. Mary’s in the 2016 Division 3A Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium and lost about a year of competiton, missing his ninth grade season.
Feels Jack Nicholson would be the best actor to play him in a movie.
Best thing about being a Cardinal is UofL is all about winning.
Would most like to meet Marcus Luttrell.
What impresses him the most about Coach Mack is “how much he is willing to put in to win.”

Favorites:
Basketball Player: Larry Bird
NBA Team: no particular team
Athlete, other than a basketball player: Ray Lewis, Rob Gronkowski
Movies: Lone Survivor, American Sniper, Forrest Gump, Wolf of Wall Street
TV Shows: Game of Thrones, Naruto
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Website: YouTube
Instagram Follow: @margotrobbie
Musical Group/Singer: George Strait, Rod Wave
TV Sports Personality: Marshawn Lynch
Food: breakfast
Midnight Snack: oatmeal
Vacation Spot: Bahamas