In the days leading up to Friday’s Jordan Brand Classic, USA TODAY High School Sports will be publishing diaries from players to document their experiences in New York City, at practices and events related to the game. This installment is with St. Rita (Chicago) guard Charles Matthews, a Kentucky signee.

New York is the city that never sleeps and it’s a fun city to be in. I’m from Chicago and it’s not much of a difference, but this city has way more traffic than in Chicago. I’m not a big fan of that.

I would like to see a few sights while I’m here. It would be nice to see the Empire State Building. I think we’re going to get to go.

We just finished the first practice. It can be tough with only a few days to get ready. We all know we’re here to compete and most importantly, have fun. We are all elite players. We know how to play the right way and move the ball, space the floor.

Since the season ended, I’m really working on my handle and my shot and being strong to get ready for college.

Isaiah Briscoe and Skal Labissiere are also going to Kentucky. We’re just spending time together and get to know each other better. Me and Skal are roommates here. He’s a good kid, really talented and he’s going to be a fun person to play with.

It was great to watch what Kentucky did this season. They had a great run that got stopped short, but they still made history in the regular season.

I really didn’t pay too much attention to which guys announced they were going pro. I wish those guys the best of luck with their career outside of college. They did great things at Kentucky.