Last year, Bennedict Mathurin turned some heads in his freshman year at the University of Arizona. The 6-foot-6 Canadian guard averaged 10.8 points per game on 47.1% shooting from the floor and 41.8% shooting from deep, while also proving to be a reliable player on the defensive end.
If Mathurin had decided to enter the 2021 NBA Draft, nobody would have blamed him. He easily could have gotten himself picked towards the end of the first round, but he decided to return to Tucson to work on his game. Now, Mathurin is averaging 18.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and looks like a lock to be selected at some point in the lottery of the 2022 NBA Draft. He has been the standout performer for a Wildcats team that looks like a legitimate threat to win a national championship in head coach Tommy Lloyd’s first year with the program.
Before this season started, we knew that Mathurin had both the size and spot-up ability to be a good guard at the next level. According to Synergy Sports (the provider of all similar numbers in this story), Mathurin scored 1.295 points per possession in spot-up opportunities last season. That put him in the 96th percentile in all of college basketball, and that’s what is considered an “excellent” rating. The guard has a nice, high release on his jumper, and he gets good lift on it as well. It’s a picture-perfect stroke and it’s nearly impossible for defenders to get their hands on it.
Mathurin was also good as a transition scorer and had the same “excellent” mark as a cutter, where he was in the 99th percentile in the nation with 1.812 points per possession. On top of that, Mathurin was sturdy as a defender, whether it was in isolation situations or defending pick-and-roll ball handlers. Mathurin is a good athlete and thinks the game at a high level, so that’s not exactly surprising.
There’s a place in every NBA rotation for a player that does what Mathurin did last year, and that’s actually part of what makes the 19-year-old such an intriguing prospect: His floor is just absurdly high. However, Mathurin knew what he needed to do this season in order to show scouts that there’s more to his game, and the sophomore has done exactly that through nine games.
After an up-and-down start to the year, Mathurin has settled in and averaged 27.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game over his last three contests. He had 30 big ones in a massive 83-79 road win over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, and his expanded game has been on full display as of late. Here are some highlights of his brilliant performance in Champaign over the weekend (video courtesy of Bleacher Report):
Mathurin was a dead-eye catch-and-shoot threat last year, but he now looks like an elite off-ball mover and has proven himself to be capable of getting his feet set in uncomfortable situations — just look at the shot he hits at around the 1:30 mark in the video above. That’s huge for his development as a prospect, as there are guys in the pros that make eight figures each year based on their abilities as movement shooters. The best NBA coaches can build elite offenses around players that can go full speed around screens and knock down shots, and Mathurin is showing scouts that he doesn’t need to be standing still to drill jumpers.
The biggest improvement in the sophomore’s game is, however, his ability to attack defenses off the bounce. Mathurin has a lot of work to do before he’s able to start punishing defenders as an isolation scorer, but the 19-year-old has become a lot more comfortable when attacking closeouts this season. Considering how good of a shooter he is, Mathurin is always going to have defenders scrambling. Now, the guard is using his above-average first step to get those defenders on his hip, which allows Mathurin to go all the way to the rim or get to his floater. The floater is a shot he has clearly worked on a lot, and it looked lethal in wins over the Michigan Wolverines and Illinois.
With Mathurin now flashing a more complete offensive game, it’s hard to find a reason for him not to be one of the top-14 picks in the draft next year. Also, by adding so much in just one summer, teams aren’t going to have to question his work ethic one bit. This is a player that listens to feedback and wants to get better.
It also shouldn’t go unnoticed that Mathurin has taken a leap as a defender this season. Whereas last year, the Canadian let up 1.025 points per possession when defending players that were spotting up, Mathurin is allowing just 0.75 points per possession in those situations this year. That’s an improvement from what Synergy Sports considers “below average” to “very good”. Meanwhile, Mathurin has also gone from “very good” to “excellent” at defending pick-and-roll ball handlers, as he’s giving up 0.278 points per possession this year, which puts him in the 96th percentile in college basketball. Last year, Mathurin gave up 0.639 points per possession, which had him in just the 71st percentile.
Mathurin projects to be an extremely reliable on-ball defender at the next level, and he has the size to cover both guards and smaller forwards. He’s also an intelligent off-ball defender, which means there’s very little to worry about with him on the defensive end.
The reality of the situation is that Mathurin would have been one of the best 3-and-D prospects in last year’s draft, and that’s exactly what he was viewed as entering his second season with the Wildcats. But the sophomore has added enough to his game to show scouts that he can be a true three-level scorer if he adds a little off-the-dribble ability to his already impressive repertoire. Considering what he’s done to make himself better, it’d be foolish to doubt that Mathurin can do that. That means that simply labeling him a 3-and-D prospect is actually insulting to him based on the player he is now. Mathurin has everything that teams are looking for out of wing prospects these days, and the right coaching staff will likely feel confident that it can turn him into a borderline All-Star. At the very least, Mathurin has what it takes to be a big part of a franchise’s young core. He plays a brand of basketball that is conducive to winning, which should strike a chord with some lucky team in the lottery.
