Jordan Mathews- more to offer than his scoring ability (Jordan Mathews update)

Jordan Mathews – we have all heard his name mentioned in conjunction with several well known schools: Butler, Cal, Colorado, Kansas State, Nevada, San Diego State, San Francisco, TCU, VCU, Wyoming, Indiana, Kansas, USC, Wake Forest and of course Gonzaga.  He picked up an offer from Marquette today as well. So, why are these schools on board the Jordan Mathews bandwagon?

 

This 6’3 shooting guard from Santa Monica, California has an aggressive style of play.  He is known for attacking the hoop and has the potential to be a leader and dominate the court.  In June, he was chosen as the Ocean League MVP.  More recently, he has had successful games in the Adidas Nations tournament.  In game 2, Jordan scored 15 points, with three rebounds and one assist.  He shot 6 of 13 from the floor, and 1 of 4 from the three-point line.

In addition to his shooting prowess, Jordan appears rather humble and seems to be a good team player.  Having the humility to work well with others is important for team chemistry and Jordan possesses an ideal attitude for a Gonzaga player.  His Vikings head coach James Hecht had this to say about Mathews:

“We expect big things from him next year. Throughout the whole process he’s remained humble and focused, and is always looking to improve.” 

On the path to earning the Ocean League MVP, Mathews averaged 22.4 points a game with a 42-point high, yet he was quick to point to his teammates as the reason for his team’s success:

“This season was great and we did well as a team because we had a lot of guys that brought a lot of different things to the table,” Mathews said. “It was a big coming together type thing. At the same time we all had to forfeit something but give what you could to the team for the greater good. The experience that we gained this year will be invaluable for next year and we have a lot of good pieces, and the goal now is to take all those pieces and to put them into a situation where we all can work together to reach a camaraderie and a common goal.”

Attitude can make or break a team.  Just look at UW and how the team struggled this year with a few (ahem) ball hogs and divas.  This is one of the reasons that I would love to have Jordan Mathews don a Zags jersey.

So what are our chances with landing Jordan Mathews?

In May, Jordan listed Gonzaga as a favorite: “I talk to VCU a lot and I talk to Gonzaga a lot, those are the schools I talk to the most.  I’m just taking it all in right now. VCU and Gonzaga are recruiting me the hardest…I want to visit Gonzaga because I want to see their arena…”

In July, it seemed Gonzaga was still listed as a standout:

 
Jordan Mathews is expected to trim his list down this month and to declare his Official Visits.  He has stated that he wants to visit Gonzaga in the fall. With how much recruits tend to enjoy visiting the campus, I hope that Jordan Mathews follows through with this. Hopefully we will gain our next great recruit to follow in the footsteps and tradition of the tremendous guards Gonzaga has been known for developing over the years.