Olive Branch’s Matthews brings defensive skill to Mississippi St.
Mississippi State added its second men’s basketball signee in the Class of 2020 Wednesday night in Olive Branch’s Cameron Matthews.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward is the No. 2 prospect in Mississippi, according to the 247Sports Composite. He picked the Bulldogs over Memphis, Arkansas, Ole Miss and UAB.
“It just felt the most like home. They treated me like I was family when I went down there,” Matthews said. “There’s not too much to get in trouble down there, it’s just mostly basketball.”
Matthews took his official visit to Mississippi State on Sept. 20 and committed two days later. He said he feels like the Bulldogs are on the rise and that their recent success helped him make his decision.
Mississippi State (4-0) made the NCAA Tournament last season under Ben Howland for the first time since 2009.
Olive Branch coach Eric Rombaugh said that Matthews’ strengths are defense, athleticism and toughness.
“He’s always been kind of our glue guy, our defensive stopper. He’s always been willing to step up and guard some of the toughest players, and over the last couple years he’s guarded some of the toughest bigs in the country,” Rombaugh said. “This year we’re looking for him to be more offensive and look for his shot a little bit more and just help run the team and make sure we’re going in the right direction.”
Matthews, along with (Memphis forward) DJ Jeffries and Joe Cooper, helped lead Olive Branch to an appearance in the MHSAA Class 5A state title game last year. Matthews averaged 11 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.2 blocks last season.
This year, the Conquistadors have won their first three games and are looking for Matthews to play a bigger scoring role.
“There is (more shots without DJ) and that’s Cameron finding his way through our offense and finding where he can score best and he’s working through that and getting better and better but he’s such an unselfish player,” Rombaugh said.” I think he’s been close to a triple double in all three of our games. He’s a great passer and a great rebounder. He can score, he just has to really focus on finding his spots.”
Mississippi State, which had the 13th-ranked recruiting class in the SEC last year, is now ranked ninth. The Bulldogs, who also signed four-star point guard Deivon Smith, are ranked 51st nationally.