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Tracking the College Basketball Stars of the Future

ECU & C-USA Hoops Recruiting Report Saturday, June 28, 2003 By Thad Mumau Special Correspondent

ECU's radar locked in early in chase for Mathis

©2003 Bonesville.net

Being ranked among the top 100 rising senior high school basketball players in the country is quite a distinction, but Troy Mathis has another pretty impressive calling card. Most guys don’t score 80 points in a week, but Mathis exploded for that many in one game last season.

The 6-1 point guard hit 35 of 46 shots, including seven of 10 behind the arc, as Laurinburg (NC) Charter School annihilated Crossnore (NC) Charter, 136-33. He also had 11 steals in that game.

Mathis finished the season with an average of 27.8 points, four assists and six rebounds as Laurinburg Charter went 26-4. He connected on 41 percent of his field goal attempts, 39 percent of his three-point shots and 86 percent of his free throws.

"T.J. came into my program as a pure point guard," Laurinburg Charter coach Kenneth Gordon said, "but we used him mostly at two guard last year. I think that got people looking at him, although they should have known anyway. If I would have left him there, he probably wouldn’t have gotten as much attention. Next season, he will be a point guard all the way."

East Carolina is one of the schools "heavily involved" with Mathis, according to Gordon. The others are Connecticut, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Xavier, Nebraska and Manhattan.

Nobody has offered a scholarship yet.

Mathis has grown up in Raleigh where he was an all-conference wide receiver as well as a backcourt starter his freshman year at Athens Drive High School. He moved to Laurinburg Charter School right after his sophomore year began. The 6-0, 195-pounder plays AAU hoops with Raleigh’s Finest.

"As well as he played last season, T.J. is playing even better this summer," said Gordon, an assistant to Raleigh’s Finest head coach Wallace Shuler. "He is averaging around 30 points and six or seven assists.

"T.J. is a rarity. Not only can he score, but he is probably one of the top defensive players in the country. At 195 pounds, he is strong, and he is quick as lightning. People can’t muscle him or get past him. He keeps guards out of the lane. He can shut down the big boys.

"His strength helps him on offense, too, because defenders can’t bump him off the ball. He takes the ball to the basket real strong and has a very quick first step. It’s hard to contain him."

Gordon said Mathis, who is ranked No. 90 in the class of 2004 by Prepstars.com, is knocking on the door of a 2.8 grade-point average. He hasn’t taken the SAT.

"He has turned himself into a pretty good student," Gordon said. "When he found out what this game could mean to him, he got a little more serious in the classroom. He is a very mature young man.

"At the NBA Camp, they said T.J. has got to become more of a point guard. Right now, he gets by with athleticism. His basketball knowledge has got to get a little better. He has to develop a point guard mentality. But he has the tools to be an outstanding point guard."

As for recruiting, Gordon said he, Mathis and Shuler will probably sit down in late July and sort things out.

"We will narrow it down," he said. "You can’t just turn down a UConn or Arkansas, but we’ll have to see what happens. I do think East Carolina has a chance.

"Coach (Bill) Herrion has known about T.J. a long time and so has (ECU assistant) Richard Morgan. East Carolina was one of the first schools to spot T.J.

"He won’t rush things. He wants to look around and take some visits."

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02/23/2007 02:40:24 PM