Mississippi State senior Cameron Matthews expanding offensive game

Cameron Matthews is easily his team’s Swiss Army Knife. The Mississippi State senior forward led the Bulldogs in assists (100), steals (73) and blocked shots (26) while ranking second in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and scoring (9.4 ppg).

But this offseason Matthews wants to do more and expand his game, particularly on the offensive side of the court. Head coach Chris James remarked last month how big of a summer this is for Matthews and how much he can change the team with more of a perimeter game.

Matthews has taken those words to heart this offseason. He spoke with media Friday about the offseason and other topics:

Q: What is it about Mississippi State that made you want to spend your entire career here?
Matthews: This is where I started my college career. Even before college I’ve never been on to school hop. I like to weather the storm whatever it is. On top of that, it’s just the whole city of Starkville has been great to me. I feel like I still have more to give to the city.

Q: How much are you working on expanding your offensive game this offseason?
Matthews: Personally, I think it’s been going good. I know I’ve been here for a long time but I can’t play here forever. The next level they are going to want me to play outside and shoot the 3 pointer. That’s been the main focus going into this year.

Q: What have you seen from the transfers that arrived this summer?
Matthews: I see that we’ve got a lot of guys that like to get in the gym. They’ve been workaholics. Even though they haven’t been here long, I’ve seen steady progress with the guys and that’s good to see.

Q: You were a defensive guy first and Chris Jans harps on defense. How do you get the new guys to buy into that same mentality?
Matthews: I don’t feel that is so much my job. With Jans being the way he is, he predicates himself on defense. He preaches that. Everybody that is here, everybody knows you can score. But the way you get onto the court is by playing defense. You want to separate yourself and stand out then you’re gonna have to play defense.

Q: I know you and KeShawn Murphy are close. How much did you give him somebody to lean on when he was deciding to go into the transfer portal?
Matthews: Yeah that’s my dog. Whether he would’ve stayed or not I would still be close with him. I wanted him to promptly weight out his options and not assume the other side is better. Just weigh our you options.

Q: How is Murphy looking in practice so far?
Matthews: Murph is looking good. Him being the offensive threat he is, just got to get in the right spacing. He’s gonna have a bigger role this year so he has take on more responsibility that he may not be used to. But I am confident that he will take the right step.

Q: How much does last year’s disappointing end of the season motivate the team this season?
Matthews: Personally, every year has been a slow increase and every year we are getting further and further along. I feel like we are going to win a couple of games in March this year.

Q: The SEC keeps getting stronger and stronger. So far y’all have a solid non-conference schedule with some tough matchups. How much does that prepare the team for the SEC?
Matthews: I feel like it is very helpful, knowing what the gauntlet the SEC is. The more opportunities you got to get better as a team the better it is.

Q: What was your favorite moment from last year?
Matthews: My favorite moments were probably my Senior Night, it was kind of surreal just looking back on my career. Then I would probably the Top 10 wins we had at home. I feel like the environment there was top notch and it can be hard to replicate something like that. But we are probably going to do the same thing this year.

Q: What does it mean to play in front of sellout crowds now?
Matthews: I remember back during Covid where they had half the seats taken up and there weren’t many people here. But I could still hear my mom (laughing). It’s great for all the fans coming out and getting behind us. Without them, I feel like a lot of games we won we wouldn’t have won without them. So I want to thank them and hope they keep coming out supporting.

Q: Your mom is also a fan favorite. How does that feel to have that kind of support at games?
Matthews: It’s great. She kind of rubs it in my face that she’s more popular than me. I told her it really doesn’t matter. But I am grateful that I have somebody in my support system like her and I am glad she gets to come to all of my games.

Q: For the first time in six years, you are not teammates with DJ Jeffries. How different is that?
Matthews: It’s really weird. It’s weird not having him and Tolu (Smith) and guys that have been here since I’ve been here. It’s really weird. But the new people are really cool so we’ve been getting along really good.

Q: Have you taken anything away from those veterans who graduated last year?
Matthews: Yeah I’ve taken a few things but I like to do things my way. Just experimenting and doing my own thing.