MINNEAPOLIS -- New Gophers guard DeAndre Mathieu prefers to
be called "Dre," which wouldn't be a problem if Minnesota didn't
already have a guard named Dre.
The latter, of course, would be junior Andre Hollins, who
also shortens his first name for the abbreviated moniker. When forward Andre
Ingram was on the team last year, Dre Hollins was "Little Dre" while
teammates called Ingram "Big Dre."
Now that the 5-foot-9 Mathieu is on board, the 6-foot-2
Hollins can't be Little Dre anymore, right?
"He was the Little Dre, and now he's the Big Dre. But
he's not big, so it's really confusing," said Gophers forward Oto
Osenieks.
Added senior Austin Hollins: "I just call them Dre and
hope they're not standing next to each other when I say it."
Mathieu and Andre Hollins may share a nickname, but their
games are very different. Hollins developed into a scoring threat for the
Gophers as a sophomore last year, leading the team with 14.6 points per game
while shooting a team-high 41.8 percent from 3-point range. Mathieu, a junior
who transferred from Central Arizona College, isn't quite the scoring threat or
sharp shooter that Hollins has become -- at least not yet.
What Matthieu does bring is an unmistakable quickness that
initially drew first-year Gophers coach Richard Pitino to the diminutive guard.
Pitino took the job April 5 with an empty recruiting class and needed to
complete his roster. Mathieu was a no-brainer for Pitino, who hopes to run an
uptempo offense and full-court pressure on defense.
"When it came to speed and quickness at the front of
our press, I thought he was perfect," Pitino said. "I thought he was
perfect for the way that we wanted to play. He was a must-have. It was a great
get for us that late."
Mathieu, who like Hollins grew up in Tennessee, made an
early impression in Minnesota's public scrimmage last month when he scored a
game-high 26 points. Perhaps equally as impressive was what Mathieu did in the
Gophers' first exhibition game against Cardinal Stritch when he had nine
assists and zero turnovers, a sign that he indeed is a good fit to run Pitino's
quick-tempo offense.
That system is one of the biggest things that attracted
Mathieu to Minnesota. The Gophers were one of his three choices as he left
Central Arizona, along with Ole Miss and Pepperdine.
"Coach Pitino and the style of play we're going to
play, and then my visit with the guys, just being around them, the relationship
I've built with them and know you've got guys like Andre Hollins and Austin
Hollins, two really good guards besides you, is what made me come here,"
Mathieu said. "I'm happy to be here. I never thought I'd be in the Big Ten,
playing for the University of Minnesota. It's lovely. Just awesome, an awesome
feeling."
Pitino and the Gophers are happy Mathieu is here, too. After
two exhibition games, it appears as if Mathieu will begin the season in the
starting lineup alongside both Andre and Austin Hollins, Osenieks and center
Elliott Eliason, a 7-footer who posed for a picture with Mathieu at the team's
media day late last month.
"I didn't realize how short he was, even though he's
been here that long," Eliason said. "He's not a very big guy, but he
can play basketball."
As a sophomore last year, Mathieu averaged 17.1 points, 6.5
assists and 6.1 rebounds for Central Arizona, which earned him Arizona
Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. He's now ready
to take his skills from the junior college level to the big stage of the Big
Ten.
That quickness that Mathieu brings is not only an asset on
offense, as he's able to slash the lane and score in the paint, but it's a
benefit on defense as well. Mathieu is all over the court when the Gophers
press their opponents, and he's proven to be a solid on-the-ball defender as
well.
"He's going to bother a lot of guards in the Big Ten
with his quickness and his defense," said Andre Hollins. "It's hard
to stay in front of him off the pick and roll. He makes very good decisions. He
gets in the paint, gets a lot of paint touches and he attracts a lot of defense
and gets a lot of his teammates open. It's going to be fun to play with
him."
After the Gophers' media day, a handful of players were
milling around one of the baskets on the Williams Arena court, with a few of
them attempting fancy slam dunks. One player received the most raucous reaction
of all when he flushed home a windmill dunk, much to the enjoyment of his
teammates.
