Recruiting Report: JR Mathis (2017)
With two offers in tow, and plenty more interest, Kentucky Country Day 2017 JR Mathis is focusing on the big picture when he thinks about his recruitment. “IUPUI and Samford have offered, and basically Cornell,” said Mathis. “With them (Cornell)…
Access all of Prep Hoops
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWith two offers in tow, and plenty more interest, Kentucky Country Day 2017 JR Mathis is focusing on the big picture when he thinks about his recruitment.
“IUPUI and Samford have offered, and basically Cornell,” said Mathis. “With them (Cornell) being an Ivy League they can’t offer me, and they haven’t seen my ACT scores. But I’m really close with their coach and they said they’d sign me tomorrow if they had my ACT scores.“
Mathis says academics have always been priority number one, and that an opportunity to attend an Ivy League school, and play hoops, would fit nicely into his future plans.
“Country Day has been ranked the number one (academic) school in Kentucky for a long time, and it’s books first,” he said. “Grades have always come first, and then I’m kind of looking at the big picture after basketball, I’m looking at basketball as a stepping stool to land a great job when I’m older.”
The 6-foot-1 point guard is seeing a bevy of additional interest, including; Northern Kentucky, Lipscomb, Wright State, Southeast Missouri State, Kent State, Morehead State, LeHigh, Ball State, and Navy.
“I get letters from Kent State just about every day, so I feel like they are most interested,” he said.
On the court Mathis says scoring and leadership are focal points of his game, and his work-ethic is something he takes pride in.
“I consider myself to be more of a score-first point guard, I think my communication and my leadership with my teammates is a strength,” said Mathis. “In the past I hadn’t really seen the floor as well, but this year I’m really seeing it better. My biggest strength though is shooting, I get up at 5:00 every morning and go workout and get a lot of shots up, that’s my best attribute.”
As his junior season at Country Day wears on, Mathis says his role is the same as it’s been, to lead and to score.
“My role has really stayed the same from last year,” he said. “I’m still the leader, and I’ll have to score a lot, but I’ll do whatever my team needs me to do to win.”