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Yuma, Arizona -- Arizona Western College iannounced yesterday that AWC men’s basketball player Matt Gonzales has officially signed his letter of intent to attend Cal Baptist University in Riverside, California, and play basketball for them next winter.  The announcement comes just five days after Gonzales and his sophomore teammates participated in AWC Commencement activities on campus. 

Gonzales was one of the most important pieces of the Matadors’ success over the past two seasons.  A native of Henderson, Nevada (a suburb of Las Vegas), Gonzales began working his way toward a spot in the starting lineup shortly after his freshman season began.  Gonzales began the 2005-06 Matadors’ season as the first one off the bench, but when sophomore Donald Barksdale went down in mid-January with a leg injury, Gonzales stepped into the starting lineup, and in his second start gave Matador fans quite a thrill, hitting a 25-footer with :03 left in regulation to send the Matadors to overtime against Scottsdale, then scoring eight points in the two extra periods (and 20 points overall) to help the Mats eke out an 87-86 double OT victory.  Gonzales became one of the Matadors’ biggest spark plugs, averaging double figures in scoring over the last 8 games of the regular season.  Matt finished his freshman season averaging 8.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest.  He was 2^nd on the team in blocked shots.

Gonzales entered his sophomore season as the unquestioned starter at small forward, and quickly showed improved scoring prowess right out of the gate, averaging 15 points a game for the first month of the season.  But in mid-December, fans were worried that Gonzales’ season might be over when he landed awkwardly in a game against South Mountain.  He suffered a sprained MCL in his knee, and no one was quite sure how long he’d be out-except Matt.  Gonzales worked diligently to rehab the knee over the holiday break, and not only did he miss just one game, but was out of the starting lineup for just two nights.  From there, Gonzales remained a steady force, playing in every game after that, and averaging 12.4 points per contest on the season (23^rd in the ACCAC).  He also led the team in blocked shots with 28, was 2^nd in rebounding with 5.8 boards per game, and was one of the team’s better 3-point shooters and free throw shooters.  For his efforts, Gonzales was named as an All-ACCAC Honorable Mention selection after his sophomore season.