University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Matt Dickey's Summer Trip to China Was Life-Changing
01.05.2012 | Men's Basketball
Note - UNC Asheville senior guard Matt Dickey played in China this summer. Asheville Citizen-Times Senior Sportswriter Keith Jarrett interviewed Dickey about this experience. This is the storty that run in the Citizen-Times.
By Keith Jarrett
Asheville Citizen-Times
ASHEVILLE - Matt Dickey called a trip to China over the summer a "life-changing experience."
His coach and teammates have seen the changes.
A 6-foot-2 senior guard on the UNC Asheville basketball team, Dickey is the team's leading scorer (16.4 points per game) with a flair for hitting dramatic shots.
His buzzer-beating 3-pointer at Coastal Carolina ignited a seven-game winning streak late last season that ran through the Big South Conference Tournament and into the NCAA tournament.
And Dickey's trey in the final seconds in Dayton, Ohio, forced overtime in an eventual 81-77 win over Arkansas-Little Rock in the first round of the NCAAs.
A four-year starter for coach Eddie Biedenbach, Dickey entered his final year in Asheville as the preseason pick for Big South Conference Player of the Year honors.
But in between his late-season heroics and a strong start this season, Dickey took a two-week trip across the world with Athletes in Action, an organization that mixes sports and a religious message.
"It was awesome, a life-changing experience," Dickey said of a series of basketball games coupled with ministering Chinese residents who are not permitted religious freedom.
"The trip helped me a lot with my faith, really strengthened it. Their way of life was so different; their poor is so much worse off than our poor.
"It really made me appreciate what I have, the opportunity to play the game I love and get an education, and the freedom we have after seeing how those people have to live with their government."
Forward Chris Stephenson has played side-by-side with Dickey for four years and has seen the maturity of his teammate.
"Matt is more calm now and he's become a wonderful leader," said Stephenson.
"He's initiated and orchestrated Bible study meetings once a week, and he makes sure we get together and cook for one another and things like that.
"We've become a much closer team because Matt has brought us together."
"You can see the difference in Matt on and off the court," said Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach.
"He's not only a better basketball player, but his head is on better. He's matured, and he's more aware of things around him, more appreciative and more concerned about his teammates."
"You can see the difference in Matt on and off the court," said Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach.
"He's not only a better basketball player, but his head is on better. He's matured, and he's more aware of things around him, more appreciative and more concerned about his teammates."
