The Gophers offered Dre this week and will host him in early May.
DeAndre “Dre” Mathieu, a 5-foot-11, 160-pound sophomore guard from Central Arizona (AZ) CC, received a scholarship offer from the Gophers will visit Minnesota next month. He had an outstanding year this past season as he was named NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) All-American and was the ACCAC (Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) Player of the Year. Mathieu was a first team All-ACCAC selection and was named All-Region as he averaged 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game as he led Central Arizona to a 30-5 mark and a spot in the NJCAA Tournament.
Gopher Hole caught up with Mathieu Tuesday afternoon to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: You were honored today as the Central Arizona Community College Athlete of the Year. You have to be pretty pleased to receive that honor.
Dre Mathieu: Oh, yes sir.
Gopher Hole: What is the latest on your recruitment? I know that you have three visits planned in the next couple of weeks, right?
Dre Mathieu: Oh, yes sir. I am going to Ole Miss on the 25th, Memphis the 27th and Minnesota on the 3rd of May.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Dre Mathieu: I have no idea. I just narrowed it down to four schools, so I guess those other offers don’t matter, but I had a bunch though.
Gopher Hole: One of the articles I read from back in March said that you had 13 offers at that time and I’m sure you picked up others since the NJCAA Tournament.
Dre Mathieu: There were a bunch of them.
Gopher Hole: Who else is in your Final Four?
Dre Mathieu: Peppderdine.
Gopher Hole: What made you decide that those were the four schools that you wanted to check out further?
Dre Mathieu: Those were the schools that I like the most of the schools that were recruiting me. I just like they would be the best fit that I had remaining, so I choose those schools.
Gopher Hole: You have already been to Pepperdine, right?
Dre Mathieu: Yes, sir.
Gopher Hole: What do you like about Pepperdine?
Dre Mathieu: I like their coaching staff. The coaching staff has been recruiting me since February really hard and I have a good relationship with the head coach (Marty Wilson). Their campus is just beautiful.
Gopher Hole: What do you like about Mississippi?
Dre Mathieu: I am originally from Knoxville, Tennessee and that is SEC country. If you are a kid growing up in the South, you want to play SEC for whatever sport it is you play; football, basketball, no matter what. I like them. They are impressive. They have some good pieces and it s a good school, too.
Gopher Hole: How about Memphis?
Dre Mathieu: I am from Tennessee. Going to watch Memphis, it is a guard system. They let their guards excel. The coach loves the offense where you just go out and make plays. I just like the system and I like Memphis. I grew up watching Memphis a lot because I am from Tennessee and I like their system and how they play and that is why Memphis is still in it.
Gopher Hole: What about Minnesota?
Dre Mathieu: I really like what they are doing there. Coach Pitino explained to me what they are doing and how they are going to play. Andre Hollins is really good. I would love to play beside him. He scores that thing. I like to pass. If you’ve got a scorer and you like to pass, that always works out. Coach Pitino and Coach Young, they have recruited me since just got there. They have been telling me about the system that they are going to play. The style of play is going to fit with what I do. They want me to come in and be a big part of the team, so I like Minnesota a lot.
Gopher Hole: Had you heard from Coach Pitino or Coach Young when they were at Florida International or did you just start hearing from them in the last few weeks when they switched jobs?
Dre Mathieu: I started hearing from them when they got to Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: Did you know of Andre and Austin Hollins since they were also Tennessee guys?
Dre Mathieu: I don’t know them personally. I played against Andre Hollins probably twice in AAU basketball, but I don’t know them personally.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor that makes you pick School A over School B, C or D?
Dre Mathieu: I think that it is just going to be which one I feel the most comfortable with and where I will get to play and make a major impact on a team right away. That will probably be the biggest factor. The last three visits will really help me decide the most. To get a chance to play and feel real comfortable where I am at. It will be a big decision.
Gopher Hole: If I had told you a year ago that you would be trying to decide between Mississippi, Memphis, Minnesota and Pepperdine, what would you have thought?
Dre Mathieu: I would have said that you are crazy. Those schools don’t recruit small guards like me, but I just worked hard and now they are here.
Gopher Hole: Does that make you feel that all the hard work that you have put in was worth it? I know that you walked-on at Morehead State and were hoping to get a scholarship there, but that didn’t work. Has that been a motivating factor to prove some people wrong who maybe overlooked you and shouldn’t have?
Dre Mathieu: Oh, yes sir. It was a big, big factor. I wanted to let everyone know that I was better than a walk-on. I deserved a scholarship. I had to prove them wrong. That was a big reason that I was a walk-on at Morehead State and no one really gave me a shot. I had to prove somebody wrong.
Gopher Hole: How did you end up at Central Arizona? There are some good programs in the South and even in Tennessee. How did you end up clear in Arizona?
Dre Mathieu: They were the first to contact me when I first announced that I was leaving Morehead State. They told me that the ball was going to be in my hands to make play and make people better. It was going to be my show. I just took a chance. I wanted to get a little farther away from home and see if I could get away from the distractions of being close to home. I just came out here and took a chance and it worked out.
Gopher Hole: You have to be pretty pleased because not only were you Conference Player of the Year, but you were an NJCAA All-American and you took your team to the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson. How pleased were you with how things went this year?
Dre Mathieu: I was really pleased with how things went. I wish that we could have played for the national championship or at least the Final Four, but I was very pleased. I had a good time off the floor and with my teammates. We are like a group of brothers here and I meet some friends that I am going to have for life. My coaches were two of the best that I have ever played for. I am happy that I came out here. I am more than happy.
Gopher Hole: Does the fact that you were away from home this year mean that playing close to home isn’t maybe as important as it might have been say a year ago or two years ago?
Dre Mathieu: Yes, distance from home doesn’t matter anymore. Wherever I go, they told me that the games will be on TV and my mom can watch. My mom couldn’t really watch games with my at a JUCO being so far away. The schools that I have talked to, the four that remain, have told my mom that she will be able to watch a lot of my games, so being close to home is not a big factor anymore.
Gopher Hole: I’ve been out to Arizona a few times, but I don’t remember Coolidge (the home of Central Arizona)? Where is that located?
Dre Mathieu: We are an hour south of Phoenix and probably an hour and a half North of Tuscon.
Gopher Hole: So to be honest, you are kind of middle of not nowhere, but you are not really near anything, right?
Dre Mathieu: It’s nowhere (laughing).
Gopher Hole: Was that kind of good because it allowed you to focus on your game and getting better and your academics?
Dre Mathieu: Oh, yes sir. If you are not sleeping or with your teammates, you are in the gym. We lived in the gym this year. We would go to the gym, then eat and then go back to the gym because we had nothing to do but homework. When you don’t have much to do, it’s basketball and the books.
Gopher Hole: You were 30-5 this season. What were the expectations before the season? You had made the NJCAA Tournament since 2002. Were you expected to be anywhere as good as you were this year?
Dre Mathieu: Coming in, we set some goals. Our goals weren’t that high. We weren’t expecting to go 30-5. We expected it to be a tough season or whatnot, but we came together early, though. After the first two or three games, we knew could make a lot of noise, but at the beginning of the season, our expectations were to win 20 games and try to go the tournament, but after the first two or three games we came together as a team and we felt that we could make it to the national tournament and make a run at the national championship. We got the confidence and just started wining games back-to-back-to back and it built up. With the chemistry, our team just clicked. Our expectations weren’t high, but they got higher as the season went along. You could see that.
Gopher Hole: You won your first game at the NJCAA Tournament and then lost to Central Florida, who won the national championship. Does that make it a little bit better knowing that you would have to loved to have won that game, but at least the team you lost to won the title?
Dre Mathieu: I don’t know. It was kind of bittersweet. We were actually up five at halftime in that game. We were leading most of the second half, too. It really hurts to know that the team that won the national championship that we could have beat them, so it is kind of bittersweet, knowing that they won. We had a chance to beat them. We were up on them.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a player?
Dre Mathieu: I am a leader. I lead by example. I make my teammates better. I love to pass and I have said before, I just like to get everyone better around me. I would rather make the spectacular pass than to score myself. I am just a passer. I love to pass and I am a leader. I lead by example. And I lead on the court and off the court
Gopher Hole: What things, like any player, are you working on to improve to play at a high collegiate level?
Dre Mathieu: I am working on getting stronger and getting a little bit bigger. Put a little more weight on. I am only 160 right now. I am working on my jump shot and my three-point shot. I didn’t shoot it much this year. My opportunities were low. I didn’t really take that many threes. Most of the threes I took were when we were down. I am working on my three-point shot to get more consistent, so that teams have to respect me and they have to come out. When they start to play back, I can knock down the open three and make them pay for that. I am working on my three-pointer and my strength the most.
Gopher Hole: After your three visits, how soon do you think that you decide on a college?
Dre Mathieu: I think that when I get back from Minnesota, probably a day or so.
Gopher Hole: Have you ever been to Minnesota before?
Dre Mathieu: No, sir.