When San Diego Gulls defenseman Matt Basgall found a community of like-minded people, his faith began to soar.
“Being in that community and realizing what you can bring to other people — going in there, I wasn’t the version of myself that I wanted to be. But when I was around those people, they were such a light to me, and whether they knew it or not, they were the example that I wanted to turn into,” the hockey player said on Sports Spectrum’s “What’s Up” podcast.
Once he began to be the person God called him to be, Basgall realized he do the same for others.
“And that’s what you can be. When you’re following Christ and you are diligent in your faith and everything, you can be that light to other people, whether they’re a believer or not,” the defenseman continued. “You could be a role model, and you know perhaps you turn them into a believer at some point. You help the Holy Spirit and plant some seeds.”
According to the San Diego Gulls, Basgall played four seasons at Michigan State (2022-26). In 150 career NCAA games, he recorded 15 goals and 64 assists for 79 points. While at Michigan State, the athlete helped lead his team to back-to-back Big 10 Championships in 2024 and 2025; he was a second team AHCA All-America, a first team All-Big 10 honors in his junior year and was the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2025-26, with four goals and 16 assists in 37 games.
He signed an one-year AHL contract with the Gulls, the Anaheim Duck’s affiliate team, in July 2026.
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Basgall uses his platform on social media to share about his faith in God. While at Michigan State, the defenseman shared a few photos of him on the ice with Colossians 3:17 in the caption. The verse reads, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
However, his favorite Bible verse is the one in Basgall’s Instagram bio.
He also leans on 2 Corinthians 5:21, which is in his Instagram bio. It reads, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
As Basgall begins his professional career with the Gulls, his faith remains at the center of how he approaches both the game and the people around him. Whether he’s on the ice in San Diego or sharing Scripture with his followers online, the defenseman says he hopes to be the kind of example that once inspired him, and to plant seeds for others along the way.
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