By Peter Dalmasy

Just two weeks into summer vacation was long enough for rising senior Matt Rum to make his decision on his collegiate future. The 6'3 All MIAA 'A' Conference, All-Baltimore Catholic League and All-Baltimore County guard will take his talents with him to Williamsburg, Virginia after the completion of his senior year to play for the Tribe of William & Mary. 

The Tribe is coming off a stellar performance in the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs where they met eventual CAA-champion George Mason in the finals. The Tribe's head coach Tony Shaver was recently named by CollegeInsider.com as the CAA Coach of the Year for the second year in the row.

Rum, who averaged just over 15 points per game as a junior, first received interest from William & Mary in the summer of 2007 after he showed a strong performance at the Eastern Invitational All-Academic camp in New Jersey. After a breakout junior season in which he helped lead head coach Josh Davalli's Loyola Dons varsity basketball team to an 18-10 record and the school's first advancement into the second round of the BCL playoffs since 1998, more schools started to take notice of his prevalent knack for scoring. Rum was offered by W&M just before the conclusion of the regular season as the Tribe coaches had a chance to watch Rum play in a thrilling 50-48 Dons win at Calvert Hall behind Rum’s 27 points and last second buzzer-beating heroics to push the Dons to victory.

Although the Tribe was the first to extend an offer, Rum would eventually accumulate offers from the Big South’s Radford University, and Boston University of the America East. Over the recruiting process in general, schools such as Rider, Towson, UMBC, Mount St. Mary's, George Mason, and St. Joseph's would also be interested. 

In the end, William & Mary pursued him the most, and concluded as being the right fit for Rum. "I fit in really well with the program, their style of play comforts me," said Rum. He also stated that Shaver and company will allow him to have a strong opportunity at getting minutes as a freshman. Not only was the program the right fit, so was the campus. "Everyone at the school was really cool; it's a really good looking location. It's down south, and I really liked that," said Rum, who prior to attending Loyola Blakefield as a freshman resided in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

Rum is the second of two 2009 commitments from the MIAA for basketball in just two weeks. Last week his fellow AAU teammate with Severna Park/Maryland 3D, Nick Groce (St. Mary's), committed to play for head coach Randy Monroe for the America-East champion UMBC Retrievers. 

With his college decision made, Rum now can relax and focus on having a strong finish to his already brilliant three-year Varsity career. Last season, Rum averaged 15.7 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, and shot 44 three-point field goals.