MINNEAPOLIS — New Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino has added another player to his inaugural recruiting class.
The University of Minnesota announced Wednesday that junior college point guard Deandre "Dre" Mathieu has signed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Gophers next season. Mathieu comes to the Gophers via Central Arizona College, where he scored 17.1 points and grabbed 6.1 rebounds last year to earn NJCAA First-Team All-American honors.
Mathieu, a Knoxville native, previously walked on at Morehead State and played in 29 games as a freshman during the 2011-12 season. While Mathieu lacks size at just 5-foot-9, Pitino believes he will fit the Gophers' system perfectly.
"Deandre is the type of player that fits our style of play, both offensively and defensively," Pitino said in a statement. "He is an up-tempo point guard that does just about everything on the court, which was really evident in the numbers he put up last season. He is a great addition to our program."
Mathieu is now the second member of the Gophers' incoming class. Daquan McNeil, who originally committed to play for Pitino at Florida International, decided to follow the coach to Minnesota for the 2013-14 season.
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter.
