Matthew Hurt Spent Offseason Shooting, Adding Muscle

Rising sophomore's father discusses his improvement

Matthew Hurt appears to have made good use of his time sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept most of the nation home since mid-March.

Hurt, who reported back to Duke a few weeks ago, along with the rest of the team, was shown in an online video working out on a Blue Devils practice court. A commenter posted that it appeared the sophomore had put on some weight, prompting a response from Rich Hurt, Matt’s father.

“Sent him back to school @ 240 lbs.” the elder Hurt tweeted.

Hurt played at 214 pounds as a freshman last year, according to Duke’s official roster, meaning that he added 26 pounder to his 6-foot-9 frame.

Hurt started 22 of 31 games and averaged 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds last season. The added muscle should help him on the boards and scoring inside against physical ACC opposition. It should also keep him from wearing down as he bangs inside.

Meanwhile, things look good on the outside for the stretch four. Hurt’s father posted that his son, “got 50,000 shots up since the end of March.”

Sent him back to school @ 240 lbs. and he got 50,000+ shots up since the end of March...

— Rich Hurt (@richhurt) August 21, 2020

Hurt hit 42-of-107 from three last year, a .393 accuracy which put him in tenth place on Duke’s freshman list.

Hurt saw his playing time shrink near the end of last season, likely due to inconsistency. He started just one of Duke’s final five games before the pandemic ended the year. He received less than 10 minutes of playing time in three of his final six and was scoreless in two of his last three games. That led to speculation that he might leave Duke as a transfer in the offseason, although it appears that instead, he doubled down on his offseason work.