When spending a week in training camp with the Canadian national team last summer, Bennedict Mathurin soaked up tips from multiple NBA players, including a particular hero from his hometown of Montreal.
Luguentz Dort told Mathurin what to do when the game is not going his way, like playing more defense, communicating and playing with effort.
βHeβs always been a model to me. Weβre from the same neighborhood, so just being close with him for a week really opened my eyes,β Mathurin said last fall of Dort, who spent the 2018-19 season at ASU. βMy dream is to play in the NBA, so he told me a couple things about what to do, what are some things he wished he did when he was in college, so I can do better than him.β
Dort only spent one year at ASU, in 2018-19, while Mathurin has found more success as a sophomore this season. Dort was the Pac-12βs Freshman of the Year in 2018-19, going undrafted the following summer but eventually sticking with the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Mathurin was named to the Pac-12 all-freshman team last season and became the leagueβs Player of the Year this season.
Mathurin also has helped take the Wildcats further in the NCAA Tournament. Dortβs Sun Devils lost in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament after a First Four win, but Mathurin had 30 points against TCU on Sunday to help the Wildcats reach the Sweet 16.
As a result, now Mathurin is a big name that young Montreal players are starting to look up to more than ever.
βHe loves being from here,β says Peter Yannopoulos, NBA analyst for RDS, Quebecβs major sports network. βThereβs so many kids in Montreal that flood his messages, his social media and reach out to him. Like, βHey, youβre a hero to us and we look up to you, Benn,β and it gives him more pleasure knowing that those kids look up to him and Benn always wanted to give back to his community.
βHe had a chance to make it and he wants others to follow his path.β
Mathurinβs difficult journey through early life has become more well-documented. Without a father figure and, after age 12, without an older brother who was killed in a bicycle accident, Mathurin managed to star for a Montreal club team and eventually became the MVP of a Canadian youth tournament while playing for Team Quebec in 2018.
Sporting a tattoo with his brotherβs name on his left arm, Mathurin enrolled in the NBAβs Latin America Academy and developed into a top college and pro prospect.
βHe was just a kid who just loved playing basketball,β said Yannopoulos, who has known Mathurin well for the past eight years. βHis (passion) was getting onto a court, just being himself. He loves his teammates and he always has. He always wants to play with his friends and represent in city of Montreal, and he did that. Itβs still a big part of who he is.β
As Mathurin found last summer, the Quebec bond is a subset of the elite Canadian elite basketball fraternity. Not only is Dort with the Thunder, but the Toronto Raptors have two players β Khem Birch and Chris Boucher β with Montreal roots.
And at the college level, the Pac-12 has somewhat surprisingly become a home to Quebec prospects. The conference not only produced Dort and Boucher (Oregon) but this season had two other Montreal natives, guard Keeshawn Barthelemy at Colorado and Quincy Guerrier at Oregon.
While the greater Toronto area has long been known for producing the top prospects out of Canada, their French-speaking neighbors in Quebec are increasingly having something to say about that.
Mathurin, now a projected first-round pick in this Juneβs draft, is another reason why.
βBenn is following that path,β Yannopoulos said. βSometimes Montreal players have been disrespected locally, or nationally in Canada, but thatβs just something guys here use as fuel. And thatβs why thereβs a brotherhood. Thatβs why thereβs so many local Montreal guys that played in the Pac 12 this year.
βThe guys are all friends off the court. They compete on the court and thereβs one thing about the Montreal guys: They hate losing more than they love winning. And I think it shows in the way they play.β
Where was Zu?
Arizona forward Azuolas Tubelis played only 16 minutes on Sunday against TCU, none in overtime, and it wasnβt because of foul trouble.
UA coach Tommy Lloyd went often with either a smaller lineup featuring four perimeter players or playing twin 7-footers Oumar Ballo and Christian Koloko together.
Lloyd has benched Tubelis toward the end of close regulation games for defensive reasons, including UAβs Feb. 3 home win over UCLA, but the minutes Sunday were some of the fewest Tubelis has logged all season. He sprained an ankle at Stanford on Jan. 20 and tried to come back on the ankle in limited form at UCLA five days later.
βZu kind of got off to a slow start and missed a couple of finishes,β Lloyd said. βI kind of thought that smaller lineup or that extra big lineup were maybe the way to go. I felt bad for Zu because heβs a heck of a player. But some days, matchups are tough. Iβm sure heβs not happy with me, but we won and we need him Thursday. We need him to be good.β
Mathurin off Naismith list
Mathurin was left off the Naismith Trophyβs list of finalists for the national player of the year award along with five other players who were named semifinalists on March 10.
The four finalists remaining are Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji, Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis, Iowa forward Keegan Murray and Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe.
Five other semifinalists didnβt make the list of finalists: Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme of Gonzaga; Kofi Cockburn of Illinois; E.J. Liddell of Ohio State; and Jabari Smith of Auburn.
