Bennedict Mathurin had dreamed of this moment since his days of playing pickup basketball against his older siblings growing up in Montreal.
His first chance to be a starter on a college basketball team finally came in mid-January.
The Arizona-Oregon State game was still scoreless after two minutes when Mathurin, who had previously been a spark-plug scorer off the bench for the Wildcats, pulled down a rebound and took the ball up the floor himself. Once in a set offense, he operated quickly, running a high pick-and-roll from the right slot and then perfectly reading the defense, dribbling off the pick and attacking the basket. He found space in the lane and converted on a contested layup at the rim.
The next possession, he spotted up on the left corner to swish a wide-open 3-pointer. Moments later Mathurin, 18, picked up the loose ball and raced toward the basket. He gathered for a leap from near the free-throw line, took off and dunked. Just like that Mathurin was on a personal 7-0 run against Oregon State.
The reality didn’t match the dream; the pandemic meant these plays happened without the buzz of any crowd. That dunk didn’t bring entire sections of people out of their seats, just a few teammates. For a player who’d traveled a winding path — and whose quest to reach this point was inspired by an older brother who never made it this far — that hardly mattered, though.
By the second half, Mathurin looked even more confident and found the full force of his game, showing the world why he has a good chance to be the first player ever drafted after working through the NBA Academy system.
He dazzled on an absurd sequence that should excite any basketball fan: First he roared back to make a chase-down block then sprinted back on offense and, with a hand in his face, nailed another 3-pointer. All the while, he made it look easy.
Still not over this BLOCK ➡️ BUCKET sequence by Bennedict Mathurin
cc: @APlayersProgram pic.twitter.com/IlcJQgOtgJ
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) January 15, 2021
Mathurin ended the game with 31 points while shooting 6-for-7 from beyond the arc. Arizona coach Sean Miller said that Mathurin went from an “unmarked freshman” on scouting reports to one of the “key players” for the Wildcats.
He has started six of eight games since his breakout, and is averaging 11.6 points per game as Arizona (14-7, 8-7 Pac 12) pushes through a regular season that can’t end in the NCAA Tournament (the school self-imposed a postseason ban over recruiting violations discovered, in part, in the federal probe into college basketball.)
Whether Mathurin will return for a second season is unclear; he demurred from answering that question recently. While some scouts believe he’ll need another year to develop, we’ve included him on our latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft and ESPN featured him on their Top-100 Big Board.
Mathurin acknowledged that this season has been difficult for many players in college basketball, as they struggle to find a rhythm in a season unlike any other.
He’s adjusted, he said, because the odyssey that brought him here taught him to adapt quickly — and because he’s realized, while standing in those eerily quiet gyms, that his passion for the game is enough to drive him.
“Even if there are no fans, I’m able to stay focused and play the game that I love,” Mathurin recently told For The Win via Zoom.
***
The big outing against Oregon State was just one stop on a long journey for Mathurin, who hopes to be the next player from Montreal to make it to the NBA.
He often talks with Oklahoma City Thunder wing Luguentz Dort (a fellow Québécois who attended rival Arizona State) and Orlando Magic big man Khem Birch (another Montrealer) about how basketball is becoming the preferred sport for some in a province historically driven by hockey. But the infrastructure is still not on the level of some other places, which explains why Mathurin ultimately opted to work on his game elsewhere.
Growing up in Canada, Mathurin played the power forward position and was a fairly successful player on the youth circuit.
When he caught up with For The Win, he said his biggest basketball influence of all-time is Michael Jordan and that his favorite active player is Bradley Beal. It was no surprise that in 2018, he would switch to play on the wing.
That wasn’t the only change for Mathurin, who left home at 16 years old to more seriously pursue his basketball future. Mathurin is multilingual and speaks French, English and Haitian Creole. When he arrived in Mexico City as part of his journey to the NBA, however, he didn’t yet speak any Spanish.
“The first few months were really tough,” said Mathurin. “But by my second year, I was really able to communicate with my teammates.”
Mathurin took a risk and bet on himself by leaving Canada and it wasn’t long until it started to pay off. He was a standout prospect while participating in events like the NCAA Next Generation Showcase and Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in Chicago, where he was named an All-Star.
Playing for Team Quebec, Mathurin took home most valuable player honors at the U17 Canadian National Basketball Championships in 2019.
Another highlight performance came when he competed in the Torneo Junior Ciutat de L’Hospitalet held in Barcelona, Spain last January. He averaged 13.2 ppg, which was the second-most on his team.
That was highlighted by a 30-point game in the tournament semifinals against Baskonia.
Over the course of those five games, he was effective when running the pick-and-roll and he was very productive on his floaters. While his jump shot wasn’t falling, his willingness to create his own shot off the bounce was encouraging. That helped him eventually get recruited and offered by major collegiate programs Arizona, Washington State and Baylor.
Mathurin insists that none of what he is doing today would be possible without the guiding force of his elder siblings. His sister, Jennifer Mathurin, played college basketball for North Carolina State from 2013 until 2017. She was an ACC All-Academic recipient.
“She made me want to keep going and keep playing basketball,” said Mathurin. “She taught me how important it is to go to school and helped me realize that if there is no school, there is no basketball.”
Especially considering how long he has been away from home, these days, some of his most cherished memories are playing basketball against his brother — even if it didn’t go in his favor.
“He was the first player to ever cross me over so bad that I fell on the floor,” Mathurin joked. “I used to hate him for that!”
Mathurin unexpectedly and tragically lost his brother, Dominique, who died after a bicycle accident in 2012.
“He said that playing college basketball was his dream,” said Mathurin. “I made the dream come true.”
***
Already, the path that Mathurin has had to get to college basketball makes him a trailblazer.
He was one of the first players to attend the prestigious NBA Academy’s location in Latin America. The NBA Academy is an all-encompassing boarding school for young athletes and it has locations all over the world, including Australia, China, India, Mexico and Senegal. The program offers a highly-competitive holistic basketball curriculum, including individual and team skill development, psychology and nutrition. These players face off against the top prospects in the world.
Because the NBA Academy only started in 2016, we are seeing its alumni in college basketball for the first time. Some standouts include Mathurin, Efe Abogidi (Washington State), Jonathan Tchatchoua (Baylor), Santiago Vescovi (Tennessee) and Oumar Ballo (Gonzaga) in the college ranks as well as Josh Giddey (Adelaide) and Mojave King (Cairns) in the Australian NBL.
Chris Ebersole, who oversees elite basketball development for the NBA Academies, told For The Win that Mathurin has also shown an extraordinary willingness to learn the process of what it takes to succeed at the next level.
“That comes from his background. He has had some really tragic moments as a young person, which is really hard to deal with,” said Ebersole. “But the way he has bounced back and the way he has reacted to that is a testament to his character.”
According to Greg Collucci, a former college basketball player and coach at George Washington University who now works for the NBA’s international basketball operations team, Mathurin persevered and grew during their time working together through the NBA Academy.
“He began his time as quiet, reserved and uncertain how to use his voice,” Collucci told For The Win. “But he developed an understanding of how to be a leader and set an example by showing his work ethic on and off the court.”
***
These days, Mathurin is using that experience to help play alongside several international prospects playing on the Wildcats. He has teammates from Cameroon, Estonia, France, Lithuania and Turkey.
“Everybody is in the same situation,” said Mathurin, whose teammates Christian Koloko and Daniel Batcho also speak French. “I’m not alone.”
As the season has progressed, Mathurin has become more and more comfortable on the floor as well. The Wildcats have played better when he is on the court, evidenced by the fact that his offensive rating (128.4) ranks second-best among all players in the Pac-12 so far this season.
“I’m pretty aggressive. I’m doing everything for my team to win. I shoot the ball. I play defense,” said Mathurin. “I can jump high, too.”
Mathurin, who is averaging 11.6 points per game while shooting 42.7% from 3-point range, has made the most of the opportunities that he has been given.
Overall, he is averaging 1.16 points per possession, per Synergy, which ranks in the 96th percentile among all players in D-I college basketball. He also currently ranks as the most efficient high-volume player (minimum: 120 possessions) in the uber-competitive Pac-12 conference.
Ben Mathurin movement shooting — little leg split here, but beautiful job squaring his feet to the hoop of the screen from Tubelis. Really interesting shot-maker with size: 46 3P%, 57 2P%, 74 eFG% off the catch, 69 FG% rim in the half court | Arizona Buckeye Throwback ATO pic.twitter.com/xYUBAHOvOM
— Brian Geisinger (@bgeis_bird) February 10, 2021
His recent performance against Colorado, in which he scored 22 points on just nine attempts from the field, is another great example of what he is able to accomplish on the court. He connected on all four of his jumpers off the catch, where he shows off an incredibly quick release.
Mathurin has long been appreciated as someone who can score the basketball, especially when either dribbling off the screen in pick-and-roll sets or while pushing the break in transition. But he is also learning to play off the ball, too, and has performed well on movement actions, whether spotting up on the corner or cutting to the basket.
In fact, as noted by Brian Schroeder, Mathurin’s blend of scoring near the rim, at the free-throw line and beyond the arc have only been accomplished by three other high-major freshmen since 2008. All three (Devin Booker, Allen Crabbe, Ben McLemore) went on to have NBA careers and two (Booker and McLemore) were lottery picks after their one-and-done collegiate campaign.
he's out with an ankle sprain, but right now Ben Mathurin is one of only three major conference Freshmen to shoot 70% at the rim, 40% from three and 80% from the line on 20 or more usage. The other two are Ben McLemore and Devin Booker
— Mr. Lebowski is in seclusion in the West Wing (@Cosmis) January 28, 2021
One NBA executive, who spoke to For The Win on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on behalf of their team, has been pleasantly surprised with what we have seen from Mathurin thus far.
“You see a guy who has good size, good length and I think he is probably going to profile for most teams as a 3-and-D guy. But he is a 3-and-D guy who can handle the ball,” added the executive. “He can attack closeouts, he can take contact and finish at the rim. That’s all pretty intriguing.”
Mathurin, who is widely celebrated for his athleticism and measured at 6-foot-6 with a plus wingspan and an 8-foot-4.5 standing reach back in July 2019, has the right frame to play on the perimeter in the NBA.
“The role has increased, the shot is going in, it looks like there are defensive tools there. If you get a young guy with size who can make his shots, that right there is enough to get you drafted,” said the scout. “I think he has a chance to be a really good defender when you look at his feet, his length, his size and his frame.”
Benn Mathurin helps force a steal, then soars in transition for a slam. He's good. pic.twitter.com/r52N0Y4QSU
— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) February 13, 2021
This executive, who scouted Mathurin at Basketball Without Borders last year, believes the Arizona product would probably get selected somewhere in the first round or the early second round if he declared for the 2021 NBA draft.
Matt Babcock, an NBA draft analyst for BasketballNews.com, recently scouted Mathurin in person when Arizona faced Colorado. Babcock also came away impressed with Mathurin’s footwork and complimented his defensive hands as well.
“I’d like to see Mathurin return to Arizona for one more year to continue developing,” Babcock told For The Win. “At this rate, I expect him to be a high priority prospect for next season, and a potential first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.”
Earlier this month, Mathurin was asked if he planned to declare for the pros after this season. He told reporters that he was “more focused on the season and having a good record” than he was on making that decision.
Either way, the future looks bright for Mathurin, who knows that no matter his decision, there is still more work that he needs to do before he is ready to become the franchise player that he has long dreamed of becoming.
But considering that he doesn’t turn 19 years old until June, there is still be plenty of room left for his development.
“I don’t think he’s by any means a finished product on the court,” said Ebersole. “He’s still scratching the surface and discovering what his superpowers are and learning how to control them.”
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