From an early age, Matt Gaffney had always been coached the right way. In fourth grade, his father wanted him to put some of his lessons to the test.
Ted Gaffney will never forget it. He was coaching Matt’s team for the Saint Joseph School, a Catholic school in Wakefield, Mass., in a game played, poetically, at Malden Catholic. Ted put Matt in the game with a message.
“I said, ‘Let me see some of your dribbling skills,’” Ted recalled.
In this Catholic school league, rules stated that defense can’t be played until the offense passes half court. No pressing allowed. Gaffney, knowing this rule, took his father’s instructions literally. He received the inbounds pass in the backcourt, and started dribbling up the court. What happened next made the entire gym stop.
“About 5 feet from half court, he stops and he does this behind-the-back, through-your-legs,” Ted recalled. “He put this dribbling display on and then he took it over half court.”
Ted, of course, meant for his son to show his dribbling skills in actual game action. It didn’t stop Gaffney from putting on a quick show. The crowd clapped and cheered in relative wonder.
“(They) thought that was amazing that a kid could dribble like that,” Ted said.
Gaffney’s dribbling spectacle was a microcosm of two things. He was always receptive to coaching, something that has greatly benefited him throughout a young career shaped by some of the best local coaches. And he was always advanced for his age, with skill that ultimately led to a Div. 1 scholarship at Navy.
Years later, Gaffney has established his basketball legacy on that same court at Malden Catholic. The 5-foot-11 do-it-all guard has become the MIAA’s best player, and its greatest winner. An integral part of the Lancers’ three consecutive Div. 2 state titles, he dreams of closing his high school career with a storybook four-peat.
That’s just what Gaffney does: He wins.
“He’s one of the greatest winners I’ve ever coached,” said Lambros Papalambros, his coach with the Middlesex Magic. “If I needed one game to win, Matty would be on the short list of guys I would want to win that game.”
Proving himself
Gaffney learned winning habits early because it’s all they knew in his family. Ted, his father, played football at Boston College during the Doug Flutie years in the 1980s. Matt is the youngest of five – one brother, three sisters – and closely watched his siblings’ athletic success.
His brother, Michael, played football at BC High, Phillips Exeter and then BC. His oldest sister Megan was a standout volleyball player. Matt was young when his middle sister Marie became a three-year starter and all-league basketball player at Arlington Catholic. He and his youngest sister Maeve – who went on to have a standout career at Brooks – wanted to emulate her.
Matt watched Marie’s workouts, or when she would go to the local LA Fitness, or ‘The Voke’ in Wakefield, to do a shooting routine.
“From a young age, (he) just really was able to understand how important it was to do the work,” Ted said.
It caught on. Being around the game so much, Gaffney developed a skill set rapidly and consistently played on higher levels, whether it was at Saint Joseph, Wakefield travel leagues or on the AAU circuit with the Bay State Jaguars. Along the way, his coaches taught him important lessons.
That included his dad. Gaffney said he was maybe harder on him than others. Ted was committed to fair minutes for everyone. There were quick five-in, five-out shifts, and he didn’t favor anyone.
It frustrated Gaffney. But it helped instill the meaning of winning as a team and being selfless.
“It got me into the sense of learning how to win, learn how to practice and be a more mature person dealing with situations,” Gaffney said.
There were moments for Gaffney that made him feel like he belonged and a basketball future was realistic. He played for the Bay State Jaguars AAU team and head coach Freddie Hector, who helped him dream of Div. 1 basketball. In sixth grade, Gaffney remembers a game in Troy, N.Y., where he came off the bench and hit five straight 3-pointers. There was another tournament that summer – Rumble in the Bronx, where he played against some of the best teams out of New York City – and he held his own.
“I was like, ‘They’re bigger than me, a little bit faster than me at the moment, but I was like, ‘Yeah, I can compete with them,’” Gaffney said.
Gaffney had to deal with perceptions as an undersized player. It’s part of what’s given him an edge.
“I have to prove myself every time,” Gaffney said. “It’s like, being a 5-11 white kid from Wakefield, kids like that don’t ever play Division 1 college basketball. … Every time I step on the court, no one expects me to be good. No one thinks I’m good.
“I don’t look the part necessarily, but I have to work for it.”
Gaffney was told he was too slow, too small to play for certain AAU teams. Told he wasn’t good enough.
But Gaffney kept working, and kept taking the good coaching. He was skilled, but the lessons he learned in his upbringing are what helped separate him. He was taught how to win. His dad, a former Div. 1 athlete, imparted wisdom and helped learn how to contribute in different ways. As he played for Vin Pastore and Mass Rivals, he was coached on end-of-game situations. He picked up quickly on nuances of the game. Gaffney even credited being the youngest of five that gave him toughness others didn’t have.
“All the people who have had a part of his story have been about competing in the right way,” Ted said. “He’s winning in the right way.”
The next level
After repeating eighth grade at Austin Prep, Gaffney left to attend Malden Catholic. John Walsh – a Wakefield native and former MC player – was the new head coach there, and the Gaffney family had familiarity with him. Walsh had coached with the Rivals, saw Gaffney play there and had a prior relationship with Ted. It made too much sense for Gaffney to join Walsh, a well-respected coach who had great success at Central Catholic.
It became a perfect fit for Gaffney, who reached new levels in his basketball journey. As a freshman, Gaffney came off the bench for a loaded Lancers squad and became a major contributor to their first state title team. He got better as the season progressed, and Walsh said he was good enough to start. He remembered a game against Springfield Central when he blew by a defender for a big layup and then iced the win with free throws.
“At that point, I was like, ‘We really have something in this kid,’” Walsh said.
“He was so ahead of his time, just mentally. There was nothing that was going to bother him or faze him.”
That season was instrumental in Gaffney’s growth. That Lancers team included several college players, including standout point guard Tony Felder, who went on to play at Div. 1 Radford. Gaffney developed a bond with him that continues now.
When Felder left, Gaffney was essentially handed to the keys to the program. He leaned on Felder, routinely texting him for advice on how to be a leader. Felder became a role model. Gaffney, who still had dreams of going Div. 1, took Felder’s advice on the recruitment process and what it took to get there. He sent Gaffney workouts to do. “He went through it all before me,” Gaffney said.
The culture was shifting at Malden Catholic, where Walsh demanded a high level of commitment. Ted likened it to a college program because of the preparation and attention to detail. The departed senior class instilled a high standard of work ethic. Players started routinely going to the gym for early morning workouts before school, which was uncommon before.
Gaffney reaped the benefits, and took responsibility to keep it going.
“We’ve taken it to another level,” Gaffney said.
Two more state championships, of course, have followed. Gaffney said Walsh has installed a winning mindset. He relishes any pressure associated with it.
Last season was not easy for Gaffney individually. He suffered a stress fracture in his foot coming out of the summer, and he missed the early part of the season. But he pushed through the challenging rehab — not only for the team, but he was still chasing that Div. 1 scholarship.
“He wanted to prove himself,” Ted said.
Then came a life-changing summer, when all the work paid off. He switched AAU teams, hoping to play on the Middlesex Magic’s top team, but was placed on their Hoop Group team for Papalambros. He proved himself again with a breakout summer. He got his first Div. 1 offer from Chicago State, helped the Magic win a championship, and received more Div. 1 interest. He ultimately committed to Navy in September.
MORE: Inside how Matt Gaffney and Middlesex Magic won the 2024 Hoop Group championship
Ted always told Gaffney that no matter what team he was on in AAU, no matter how many times he was told no, that his effort and attitude would get recognized, if it was God’s plan for him to play at the next level. It came true.
“He’s a competitor,” Walsh said. “When you want something so badly, and everyone tells you there’s a reason you can’t have it, whether it be your size or this or your speed or whatever it may be, some kids can go two ways with that. …
“Some kids will say hey, those people are right. … Or you can say, ‘I’m going to prove everybody wrong, I’m going to play Div. 1 basketball and I’m going to work every single day until that happens.’ And that’s what Matt did.”
Leaving a legacy
Gaffney has certainly had opportunities to leave Malden Catholic. Over the years, he’s been approached by several prep schools – a typical route for top MIAA players looking for more exposure.
He never made the jump for several reasons. For one, he believed in Walsh as the coach who would get him to where he needed to be, who would fight for him more than any prep school coach would. His dad also instilled in him the importance of belonging to a community.
“It’s important that you have a place that you call home and where you matter as a person,” Ted said.
Gaffney took it to heart, and it became important to him to leave a legacy at Malden Catholic. Not only is he chasing a four-peat – which hasn't been done since Charlestown won four straight from 2000-03 – and his first Catholic Conference title, but he also wants to have an undefeated season.
Those are lofty goals, but if anyone can do it, it’s Gaffney. Already one of the greatest winners in MIAA history, another historic winter would be a fitting end to a legendary career – one that would live forever inside the gym at Malden Catholic, where it all began.
“When I’m 65 years old and I’m a grandparent, I can always go back to Malden Catholic and look at the banners, look at the trophy case and just be like yeah, I built a legacy here,” he said. “I’ll always have a home at Malden Catholic.”
