Former NBA Player Visits Newtown Friends School

On Thursday, January 21, the boys’ basketball teams at Newtown Friends School were treated to a chance to learn from a pro.

Matthew Walsh, a former professional basketball player who played for the Miami Heat and several Euro League teams led a practice clinic with the boys’ teams that include students in sixth through eighth grades. Mr. Walsh is a current parent at the school. His son is in the Pre-Kindergarten class.

Mr. Walsh grew up in Holland, PA and began playing basketball as a kid in the Catholic Youth Organization. He attended Grey Nun Academy and then St. Bede the Venerable Elementary School. For high school, he received an athletic and academic scholarship to attend Germantown Academy in Ft. Washington, PA, which he cites as formidable in his development as a basketball player. Choosing to play competitively in college, Walsh earned an athletic scholarship to play for the Division I University of Florida (Gators), in Gainesville (2001-2005). In 2005, he helped lead the Gators to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship and the second round of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.

Walsh went on to play part of a season with the Miami Heat NBA team, and then soon after he headed over to Europe to play in the Euro League. He ended up playing in Europe for nine years, on teams in Greece, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, and finally Turkey.

Walsh played the shooting guard position and always was a high scorer - in his final year in the Euro League, he earned the distinction of being the high scorer for the whole league. Walsh officially retired from professional basketball in 2015, and he and his family moved back to the Bucks County area. He is now working in the commercial real estate industry.

During the practice clinic, Walsh led the boys in a series of passing, shooting, and defending drills, and then they played a scrimmage to end the session. Walsh encouraged them to play hard and fast in each drill, and at the end of the session, he offered to answer any questions the boys might have for him. Students wanted to know if he had ever played with or against LeBron James and he said when he was in high school, he actually played against LeBron in a tournament.

One student asked, “What was it like to play in the NBA?” and Walsh shared that it was amazing to play alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat. Another student asked who Walsh’s all-time favorite basketball player was, and Walsh quickly replied, “Michael Jordan.” He then explained that when he was in high school he was one of three high school players who were asked to be counselors at Michael Jordan’s Flight School basketball camp, and at the end of each day of camp, Walsh got the opportunity to play pick-up with Michael Jordan and top high school and college players, which was a thrill of a lifetime for him.

Newtown Friends School is a Pre-K to eighth grade coed day school located on Route 413 South at the edge of the George School campus. NFS was founded in 1948 by Newtown Friends Meeting and emphasizes academic excellence, Quaker values, community service, and independent thinking.