Interesting take on Mitchell out of the San Diego Tribune before UNLV got involved in his recruitment. Matt was his high school teams leading scorer, MVP and the Riverside Press-Enterprise Player of the year over his team mate Jermal Baker who is heading to Kentucky.
SDSU may uncover a gem in Mitchell
Mark ZeiglerContact Reporter
An under-recruited, late-blooming, athletic, 6-foot-6, 225-pound wing who played at Martin Luther King High in Riverside. Sound familiar?
No one is saying Matt Mitchell Jr. is the next Kawhi Leonard, but you can draw several parallels, including San Diego State’s interest in him that culminates in his official recruiting visit Friday. Even if he wasn’t roughly the same size as Leonard and didn’t begin his prep career at the same school, Mitchell represents the kind of player with whom the Aztecs built their basketball program – underrated, underappreciated, under the radar.
So who is Matt Mitchell Jr.?
He attended King High before transferring to Roosevelt High in Eastvale (just north of Corona), where he won a Division I state title last March. His teammate was Jemarl Baker, a sharpshooting guard who initially signed with Cal, was released from his letter of intent when Bears coach Cuonzo Martin left for Missouri and now is headed for Kentucky.
Cal State Fullerton. He chose Fullerton and signed a letter of intent last November.
Then his senior season started. Mitchell averaged 25.5 points and 9.5 rebounds on one of the state’s top teams, making 41 percent of his 3-point attempts and 89 percent of his free throws. In five games against rival Corona Centennial, he had 28, 31, 31, 29 and 35 points. Mitchell, not the Kentucky-bound Baker, was named the Riverside Press-Enterprise player of the year.
"He’s always played with a chip on his shoulder,” said Matt Mitchell Sr., his father who was a 6-7 forward for Div. II Cal Poly Pomona in the early 1990s. “He’s always been that kid who wanted to prove people wrong. This year, he played with two chips on his shoulder.”
In the spring, Mitchell asked for (and received) his release from Fullerton, reasoning that “I felt it wasn’t the right decision for me to stay there.” Mitchell has since received interest from schools like Gonzaga, North Carolina State, Connecticut and West Virginia, but with only two of five allotted official visits remaining he opted to use them on Utah two weeks ago and now SDSU.
Pac-12 type talent, and I consider San Diego State to be a school with Pac-12 talent.
“He could be an immediate impact player in college. I would go as far to say that I would not be surprised if he’s freshman of the year in whatever conference he plays in.”
Mitchell is familiar with SDSU’s track record with players from the Inland Empire (Leonard, JJ O’Brien, Jeremy Hemsley and, just up the freeway, Jamaal Franklin) and with big guards or wings. He’s also familiar with Viejas Arena, having taken an unofficial visit earlier this month and having attended several games in recent seasons, including the 2016 NIT victory against a Washington team with two first-round NBA Draft picks that was particularly raucous.
“That was a crazy atmosphere,” Mitchell Sr. said. “We were sitting near the top of the arena and we were looking at the student body going crazy. I turned to Matt and said: ‘Are your feet shaking?’ He was like: ‘Yeah.’ … We went to a game at UCLA, and it was much more laid back.”
Mitchell Jr. plans to play for Dream Vision in the three-week July evaluation period, which could draw more suitors, but he also indicated he’ll “close my recruitment soon.” SDSU and Utah, then, appear to be the leaders.
“I want to go to the right place for me,” Mitchell said. “If that means I have to go across the country, I would do it. But I would like to stay close to home if it’s the right fit.”
SDSU may uncover a gem in Mitchell
Mark ZeiglerContact Reporter
An under-recruited, late-blooming, athletic, 6-foot-6, 225-pound wing who played at Martin Luther King High in Riverside. Sound familiar?
No one is saying Matt Mitchell Jr. is the next Kawhi Leonard, but you can draw several parallels, including San Diego State’s interest in him that culminates in his official recruiting visit Friday. Even if he wasn’t roughly the same size as Leonard and didn’t begin his prep career at the same school, Mitchell represents the kind of player with whom the Aztecs built their basketball program – underrated, underappreciated, under the radar.
So who is Matt Mitchell Jr.?
He attended King High before transferring to Roosevelt High in Eastvale (just north of Corona), where he won a Division I state title last March. His teammate was Jemarl Baker, a sharpshooting guard who initially signed with Cal, was released from his letter of intent when Bears coach Cuonzo Martin left for Missouri and now is headed for Kentucky.
Cal State Fullerton. He chose Fullerton and signed a letter of intent last November.
Then his senior season started. Mitchell averaged 25.5 points and 9.5 rebounds on one of the state’s top teams, making 41 percent of his 3-point attempts and 89 percent of his free throws. In five games against rival Corona Centennial, he had 28, 31, 31, 29 and 35 points. Mitchell, not the Kentucky-bound Baker, was named the Riverside Press-Enterprise player of the year.
"He’s always played with a chip on his shoulder,” said Matt Mitchell Sr., his father who was a 6-7 forward for Div. II Cal Poly Pomona in the early 1990s. “He’s always been that kid who wanted to prove people wrong. This year, he played with two chips on his shoulder.”
In the spring, Mitchell asked for (and received) his release from Fullerton, reasoning that “I felt it wasn’t the right decision for me to stay there.” Mitchell has since received interest from schools like Gonzaga, North Carolina State, Connecticut and West Virginia, but with only two of five allotted official visits remaining he opted to use them on Utah two weeks ago and now SDSU.
Pac-12 type talent, and I consider San Diego State to be a school with Pac-12 talent.
“He could be an immediate impact player in college. I would go as far to say that I would not be surprised if he’s freshman of the year in whatever conference he plays in.”
Mitchell is familiar with SDSU’s track record with players from the Inland Empire (Leonard, JJ O’Brien, Jeremy Hemsley and, just up the freeway, Jamaal Franklin) and with big guards or wings. He’s also familiar with Viejas Arena, having taken an unofficial visit earlier this month and having attended several games in recent seasons, including the 2016 NIT victory against a Washington team with two first-round NBA Draft picks that was particularly raucous.
“That was a crazy atmosphere,” Mitchell Sr. said. “We were sitting near the top of the arena and we were looking at the student body going crazy. I turned to Matt and said: ‘Are your feet shaking?’ He was like: ‘Yeah.’ … We went to a game at UCLA, and it was much more laid back.”
Mitchell Jr. plans to play for Dream Vision in the three-week July evaluation period, which could draw more suitors, but he also indicated he’ll “close my recruitment soon.” SDSU and Utah, then, appear to be the leaders.
“I want to go to the right place for me,” Mitchell said. “If that means I have to go across the country, I would do it. But I would like to stay close to home if it’s the right fit.”
