A.J. Matthews believes once the Las Vegas summer league is done, the Knicks are not going to be done with him.
Matthews, the 7-foot Cinderella story out of Division III Farmingdale State, is hoping his stint on the Knicks summer league team in Las Vegas lands him a training-camp invite in October.
The Knicks are scouring the free-agent market to add a couple of big men to their roster. The summer-league team, which begins practice tonight and opens July 12 against New Orleans, will have three notable big men on the roster. Matthews, former Knicks second-round pick Jerome Jordan and Jeremy Tyler, who played for the Warriors and Hawks last season, could all return in October.
Matthews is a great story. Last season, he was posting up against 6-foot-4 guys in the post on his way to a spectacular season at the Long Island-based SUNY off Rt. 110. Now Vegas is his big stage.
“I feel I have a great chance,’’ Matthews, a Bushwick native, told The Post yesterday. “People will always say, ‘He played Division III.’ I knew that from the jump. But I’m here to show my skill set and let them know I can play at a high level against this type of competition.’’
The Knicks thought highly enough to bring him in during the pre-draft workouts and they liked his athleticism, his coachability, his ability to move without the ball and defend three positions — from center to small forward .
Matthews, out of Bushwick, had academic issues across his career that took him through the junior-college circuit and having to disappoint programs such as Kansas, Indiana, Ohio State and St. John’s because he didn’t have the required course requirements to transfer.
“Division III is still basketball,’’ Matthews said. “You still got to make shots and play defense. It doesn’t faze me [what people say].
He’s played on Lance Stephenson’s AAU team, against Kemba Walker’s team and was on a prep-school club with Tyreke Evans. He won’t be intimidated, and he’s got firm representation – the Arn Tellem stable.
“I’ll go as hard as I can,’’ Matthews said. “I messed up and I have to take the long route.’’
* The Knicks made the signing of undrafted North Carolina State forward C.J. Leslie official yesterday. The Post reported last week Leslie agreed to terms on a partially guaranteed contract that will bring him to training camp. The Post reported the Knicks had Leslie on their board at 24 and would have taken him had the draft fell a certain way. Leslie fell out of the draft — partly due to a suspect personality that includes a bad work ethic. The other reason is teams are now not drafting second-rounders for their immediate rosters, choosing instead young international talent. The 6-foot-9 super athlete averaged 13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.37 blocks at NC State and left after his junior year. … The Knicks announced the signing of first-round pick Tim Hardaway Jr. to his rookie contract. … Former Garden prez Scott O’Neil was named yesterday to the Sixers front office. O’Neil was instrumental in convincing Knicks owner James Dolan not to rehire Isiah Thomas.