The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team has added another talent in Rutgers transfer Montez Mathis, Head Coach Mike Anderson announced recently.
Mathis, a Baltimore native, played in 90 games and made 67 starts during a three-year career at Rutgers and will have two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. He helped lead the Scarlet Knights to an overall record of 50-40 and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 30 years.
“We’re very excited to welcome Montez to the St. John’s family,” said Anderson. “He has the ability to score and defend at a high level and he is a great fit for our program. Plus, he’s a veteran and a proven winner at the collegiate and high school levels. That’s invaluable when you’re establishing a winning culture.”
This past season, Mathis averaged 8.3 points and aided Rutgers in advancing to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. He shot 38.3 percent from the field and 29.7 percent from beyond the arc while grabbing 2.8 boards in 21.3 minutes per game. Mathis finished in double figures 10 times with six showings of 15-plus points. His best effort of the season came in an 81-76 win over Purdue in late December, scoring 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including a perfect 5-for-5 performance from three-point range.
Mathis started off the season strong, reaching double figures in eight of his first nine games and averaging 15.3 points per game during that stretch. In addition to the 25-point outing against Purdue, Mathis also poured in 19 in a win over Syracuse, 15 against Illinois and 16 at Ohio State. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Final Four-bound Houston, Mathis finished with 10 points in 23 minutes of action.
As a sophomore in 2019-20, Mathis started all 31 games for a Rutgers team that was poised to snap its NCAA Tournament drought before COVID-19 forced its cancelation. Mathis averaged 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game for the 20-11 Scarlet Knights with 10 double-figure outings. He also finished third on the squad with 30 steals.
Mathis’ career-best scoring output came during his freshman campaign when he averaged 8.5 points per outing, including 10.2 points per game against Big Ten opponents. He reached double figures 13 times, highlighted by a stretch that saw him eclipse the mark six times in seven games during conference play. His best effort of the season came against Nebraska on Jan. 21 in Piscataway, when Mathis netted 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting and grabbed nine boards, including five on the offensive glass.
A consensus four-start recruit out of The John Carroll School, Mathis was ranked as the 20th best shooting guard by ESPN in the class of 2018. As a senior, Mathis helped lead his team to a 29-8 mark and an MIAA “A” Conference title. On the AAU circuit, Mathis competed with Team BBC.
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