The NBA draft will take place on June 23, and Montrealer Bennedict Mathurin is one of the players who will hear their name pronounced in the first round.
And maybe sooner than later. The graduate of his university internship with the Arizona Wildcats in the round of 16 of last March Madness met with the press on Tuesday, and discussed the possibility that he was the Quebec player drafted at the highest level of the story.
I think it’s great. We haven’t had too many players drafted into the high rankings in Montreal. To be one of them is special, Mathurin assured. It can motivate the youngest and it also motivates me to be the highest draft in recent history. Very good thing and I can’t wait.
Mathurin may have qualified for the NBA draft last year, but instead chose to continue his development at the University of Arizona.
I thought this was the best decision for me and my future. there is boy scouts [éclaireurs] who thought I could be drafted in the second round, that’s not my goal. I thought I had more talent than that and if it took another year to prove what I had to prove [je le ferais]. So I went back to school to prove it boy scouts what I did.
A decision that could allow him to write the history of Quebec and Montreal basketball.
I am a man from Montreal North. When I was a kid, there weren’t many people who were in the situation where I was and could tell us: “The NBA is possible. If you work, if you do what you have to do, if you avoid problems and Continue to study, anything is possible. ”
” That’s really the message I’m trying to convey to Montreal North because everyone thinks it’s a hole, but there’s really a lot of talent there. “
When I was young, everyone was in the park. It’s good for me, to improve myself, to thrive every day by dealing with others. We played from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. I did a lot of reps. It’s been good for me that there’s a lot of basketball around mehe continued.
There is a longing for the orange ball right now, especially with the arrival of the Montreal Alliance, the new Canadian Elite Basketball League team.
Basketball will increase every year. To have a team in Montreal, with players from around the world. There is more and more visibility and the future looks bright.
A famous young man
When your name appears in the first third of your cuvée’s most beautiful prospect, appointments generally increase.
I talked to a few teams: Pacers, Wisards, Blazers, Toronto, Chicago, Pelicans … Not bad teams that tried to talk to me, he detailed.
This is a good thing. In recent weeks, I have been training in Santa Barbara, California. I went to Combine, that was good too. I didn’t play, I just tested, it went well too. I met several teams, I had the chance to see other players who will also join the repechage. My pro day is also good.
” Probably there were all the teams that came to see me play. I performed well so I thought that went well. “
Home inspiration
Jennifer Mathurin is Bennedict’s older sister. He sparked the family path to playing elite basketball, especially playing for the NC State Wolfpack, North Carolina State University, in the NCAA First Division in the mid -2010s.
My circle really surrounds me. My sister seems to be playing basketball. He was always there to help me, to give me advice. Good or bad team, she’s always been there to motivate me. That’s not bad. My family being there for me, motivating me and keeping me focused on the important things.
” He was the reason I started playing basketball. It was thanks to him that I kept focused, that I did what I had to do to be successful in life. “
Seeing his older sister play at the highest level certainly didn’t hurt in waking up to the dream of becoming a professional when Mathurin was still a teenager.
I was only 14 because I knew how to shoot, I was a bit athletic, but I wasn’t really a good player before that age. I grew two inches, I was hoarding the tools and that’s when I was like, okay, I have a chance to play in the NBA.
Almost six years have passed and Mathurin is about to make his professional debut, and he has a writing career ahead of him.
I want to have a big impact on Montreal. I want to practice someday. I have always wanted to build a basketball school. For young people to play.
A place where his name might have been written there, literally.
Source: Radio-Canada
