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Cameron Matthews announces return to Mississippi State for one more season

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby:Paul Jones•03/29/24•

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Mississippi State forward Cameron Matthews

Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans often talks about building a different roster for each season. On Friday, Jans and his staff got a major piece of that puzzle in place for the 2024-2025 season.

Senior forward Cameron Matthews announced that he would be returning to the Maroon and White for a fifth and final season. The former Olive Branch High School standout has a Covid season remaining and opted to remain a Bulldog. Known as ‘Mook’, Matthews has also been among the team’s top leaders in the previous two seasons and that will continue for another season.

“We’ve got more memories to make and more goals to achieve,” said Matthews in a social media post. “I’m excited to to announce that I’ll be wearing the maroon and white one more time in 2024-2025. I’m appreciative to coach Jans and our staff for the lessons they’ve taught me and for trusting me to be a leader. I work hard every day to be the best player I can be and can’t wait for what’s in store next season.”

During the latter stages of the 2023-24 campaign, which saw State advance to the program’s second straight NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, Matthews noted that he would make his final decision once the season has finished. And his news gives Jans and company another solid piece to build around in search of a third-straight invite to March Madness.

The 6-foot-7 and 230-pound Matthews is also coming off his best season as a Bulldog and he has started 87 career games at State. This past season, he averaged a career-best 9.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game to rank third and second on the team, respectively, in those categories. Matthews also led the team in assists (100), steals (73) and blocked shots (26) as well as field goal percentage (62.4%). Matthews was also named to the All-SEC defensive squad this past season.

Matthews was also at his best down the stretch for the Bulldogs this past season. He scored a season-high 18 points against No. 6 Tennessee in the SEC Tournament to help lead the Bulldogs to their first SEC Tournament semifinals since 2010. For his career, Matthews has collected 736 points, 631 rebounds and 187 steals (currently ranks among Top 10 in school history in steals).

The Bulldogs are coming off a 21-14 season that ended last week with a first-round loss to Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament. Mississippi State is losing seniors Tolu Smith, Jimmy Bell, DJ Jeffries and Rams Davis from this year’s squad while junior guard Trey Fort has already entered the transfer portal.

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