Quite the signing by the Saskatchewan Rattlers Tuesday.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League team agreed to terms with U-S-C grad Jonah Matthews. A guard from Santa Monica, California, Matthews is playing his first professional season right now in Sweden. But, he was a stand-out at Southern California…especially from beyond the arc! The 6’3″ Matthews made a school-record 247 triples in his Trojans’ career and finished up 17th on the all-time U-S-C scoring list. Following is the news release from the Rattlers…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are excited to announce the signing of American guard, Jonah Mathews. Mathews joins the Rattlers as USC’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made.
Mathews joins the Rattlers with an already impressive career for his young age. The Santa Monica, CA-native is currently playing in the Swedish Basketligan for the Köping Stars. He is currently averaging 21.6 points, 1.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds in eight games for the Stars. The 6-foot-3 guard can play both the point and shooting guard positions and has started six of his eight games in the Basketligan. A key contributor on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, Mathews has demonstrated an immense all-around understanding of the game and is seen as a strong shooter and facilitator.
“I’m excited for this opportunity to play in the CEBL and represent the province of Saskatchewan”, said Jonah Mathews. “ I’m ready to get into Saskatoon and start competing for another CEBL championship.”
Prior to turning professional at the end of the 2020 collegiate year, Mathews spent all four years of his eligibility at the University of Southern California (USC). In four years at USC, Mathews averaged 10.5 points, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.5 rebounds over the course of 133 games. Mathews’ illustrious collegiate career saw him named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team in 2018 as well as the All-Pac Second Team and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team in 2020. In his final game for the Trojans, Mathews broke the school record for career 3-pointers made (247) and sealed his legacy at USC by sinking the UCLA Bruins with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the game. Mathews led the Trojans to a 22-9 record in 2019-20 and served as the team captain for two years. Mathews ranks 17th on USC’s all-time scoring list.
“We are very excited to have Jonah joining us for the upcoming season”, said Rattlers general manager Barry Rawlyk. “Jonah was an excellent all-around player during his time playing in the highly competitive Pac-12, and that same talent has transferred over to the professional game. We are positive that he will become a big addition here in Saskatchewan.”
The CEBL is preparing for its third season in 2021 starting June 5, 2021 following the success of this past year’s CEBL Summer Series in St. Catharines, Ont., which saw millions of viewers across Canada and around the world tune in starting July 25 to watch 26 games played over 15 days in a single-site league competition. The CEBL became the first professional sports league in Canada to return to play after the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in mid-March shut down sports across the country. For more information on the Rattlers, visit therattlers.ca.
