Lipscomb forward Matt Rose has a new job, and it doesn’t involve basketball.
The redshirt junior recently accepted a spot in Merrill Lynch’s Financial Advisor Development Program, which he will begin this June in Nashville. He previously interned with Merrill Lynch in Knoxville last summer.
“It was a really big learning process for me,” Rose said. “Being a basketball player my whole life, I’ve never been through the interview process like that. I did an internship with one of my dad’s friends and really liked [Merrill Lynch].”
Rose decided before the school year that the 2018-19 season would be his last. The Samford transfer took a redshirt in 2016-17 to comply with NCAA transfer rules, and he’s now in his third season of eligibility but will graduate with a finance degree in May.
“I’m glad he told us, but I was still surprised,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “Any time someone wants to give up a year of eligibility, it’s always a little bit of a surprise, even though he’s got good reasons for doing it.”
In addition to his job at Merrill Lynch, Rose is getting married to former Liberty soccer player Caroline Boone, whom he met while attending Lexington Christian Academy in Kentucky. Their wedding is set for July 6.
“I thought it was the best decision for me and my fiancé,” Rose said of skipping his final season. “We’re excited to move on together, but we’ll still be around all the time to support [the team].”
Ironically, Liberty joined the ASUN just in time for Boone’s senior campaign last fall. Jerry’s Jokers, the Liberty student section, teased Rose with poster board printouts of his Instagram photos with Boone when the Bisons visited Lynchburg on Jan. 29.
“A little bit of rivalry between us in the ASUN, it was fun,” Rose said.
Rose will go down as one of Lipscomb’s better shooters in recent memory, though the sample size was relatively small. Rose has appeared in 60 games for the Bisons after playing 33 contests at Samford in 2015-16. Over his three seasons, he has averaged 7.6 points per game and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.
“He represents Lipscomb and our team well everywhere he goes,” Alexander said. “[He’s] a guy that could be a starter a lot of places, but he came in and played a role for us and did that selflessly. That’s been important.”
The 6-foot-7 Rose will be among five Lipscomb seniors honored Monday before the Bisons take on NJIT at 6:30 p.m. Although Rose hopes there are several more games to come, he said the team is focused on the present.
“Coach Casey is really good at telling us, ‘it’s just one day at a time,’” Rose said. “We want to take each game and make that our tournament.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics