Matt Gibson spent just one season as a member of the Three Rivers Raiders men’s basketball team, but the impact it made on his life still resonates 20 years later.
Gibson visited Three Rivers College earlier this week with WB-Pantterit Naisten Edustus, the high-school-aged girls basketball team he coaches in Finland, to participate in TRC’s summer league. While he was here, Gibson also reflected on his time as a Raider.
“When I look back at my life and my journey, the time that I spent here was so important and it had such a large effect on my life, even if it was such a short time in my life,” Gibson said. “I remember this year of my life more than I remember other years. The relationships that I made here have carried on years in the future.”
Gibson played one year with the Raiders in 2003-04 and averaged more than 25 points a game in his lone season wearing black and gold. His scoring prowess got the attention of the University of Hawaii, where he finished his college career.
After he finished his college career in 2008, Gibson headed overseas, where he spent more than a decade playing professional basketball, first in Venezuela, then Romania, Finland, Belgium, France, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland and Mexico, then back to Finland, where he finished his career in 2021.
After Gibson retired as a player, his life took a surprising turn.
“They asked me to coach a team of girls,” Gibson said. “My first reaction was like ‘Well, I don’t know. Are you sure that’s something I fit?’ But the kids have been great. They have been so motivated for basketball and they are starting to dream big dreams.
“And I have been connected with them and trying to help them develop and get opportunities in the States — and specifically back here (at TRC), where I trust the school, where I know the school, where I know the people in the city and where I can trust the community to really take care of the players that I send and (that the community will) embrace them and make sure that they’re okay here.”
Gibson said the game is different in Finland, including the use of a 24-second shot clock and also that teenagers play on club teams, like WB-Pantterit Naisten Edustus, instead of school teams.
“The game (in Finland) is more tactical, in a sense of plays and ball movement,” Gibson said. “And then the acceptance of bad reactions or noise from the crowd, it’s quite different. … It’s a big change for me to coach here (while visiting the United States) and for them to play here. It’s just another reason why I brought them because it’s been a wonderful experience here.
“They’ve learned from every game they’ve played, whatever the score might be, from the different styles of basketball, we’ve enjoyed our time and they’ve learned and they’ve gotten to develop … more of what they need to be a part of this culture in basketball.”
Gibson has grown very attached to his second homeland, even learning the Finnish language.
“The kids don’t think I speak that well, but I can communicate with them, so that’s the point,” Gibson said. “I didn’t want to learn the language and be connected to this to this country, then just leave and never go back, so I had made a choice to stay and be with the kids.
“And actually, they’ve really got to me personally. I care much about them, their lives and their development as people. And I hope that I can give them the same kind of relationship and experience and journey as coach (Gene) Bess and (assistant) coach (Brian) Bess gave me.”
Some of those lessons at Three Rivers did not come easily at the time for Gibson, who joined the Raiders as an 18-year-old from Midwest City, Oklahoma in 2003.
“I can honestly say when I went through at Three Rivers when I was here, it was tough,” Gibson said. “It was really hard. There were a lot of high standards and I did not meet all those. I fell short in a lot of ways. And those coaches held me accountable, which is a very difficult thing for a young boy, especially one with an ego. And they squashed that ego as much as they could, they would squash it down and tried to teach me how to be a leader.
“I want to say that maybe at the time, the coaches thought that they didn’t get through to me or that it didn’t set in and didn’t reach all the way. And maybe for a couple of years (after), it didn’t set all the way in.”
But that was then. This is now.
“When I come back here, I’m always embraced with open arms and warm welcomes,” Gibson said. “And because of that, I want to continue to come back, I want to continue to be involved or to be a fan, to be a booster, or whatever it is that I that I can do to help the program in the future. … But I have a lot of deep feelings and deep emotional attachment to the school and this community.”
And a lot of gratitude as well.
“I wish everyone here the best,” Gibson said. “This town, the city and the love that they have for basketball and their players, I’ve always appreciated it even if I didn’t show it that much at the time, even if I didn’t realize it that much at the time.
“I guess the biggest thing is that I would just like to say is thanks to everyone who helped me grow up into a man, who helped me learn those lessons in life that were hard, accountability and standards. And then when I came back after those years, that everyone is just welcoming, loving and caring and shows me so much support here.”
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic