Saskatoon, Sask. - The Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Wednesday that they have signed American guard Anthony Mathis to their roster. Mathis was drafted in the 2021 NBA G League Draft by the Austin Spurs (NBA-affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs) with the 31st overall pick. Mathis brings five years of NCAA experience and three years of professional experience from the NBA G League, NBA Summer League, and international teams. The six-foot four guard from Oregon will strengthen the Rattlers backcourt, while Justin Wright-Foreman continues to train with the New York Knicks.
“Anthony is a versatile guard that will add some scoring punch to our lineup.” said Rattlers General Manager Barry Rawlyk “He is a player that we were on early in the process of trying to assemble our roster, and finally being able to get him under contract is something that should strengthen our roster.”
During his professional career, Mathis has played with six professional teams in the NBA Summer League, NBA G League, Greece, Sweden, and Romania. Mathis has a career average of 11.2 points, 1.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 20.3 minutes in 78 professional games.
Mathis made his professional debut in Greece playing five games with Charilaos Trikoupis in HEBA A1 before signing with the Austin Spurs during the 2021 NBA G League Draft. He played all 15 games as an NBA G League rookie, averaging 13 points, 1.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 21.8 minutes. During this season, he scored a career-high 33 points on February 21st 2021 which happened to be the highest scoring performance from his team during this season. He ranked third on the team for total points on the team (195), and the Spurs finished fifth with a quarter-final exit. Mathis spent his next season in the NBA G League with the Austin Spurs, before being traded to the Texas Legends (NBA-affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks). He averaged 5.7 points, 0.6 assists, 1.8 rebounds, and 15.8 minutes while playing 31 games between both teams. For the 2022-23 season, Mathis signed a contract with Uppsala Basket playing in the Basketligan in Sweden. He played eight games averaging 22.8 points, 2.9 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in 28.5 minutes. CS Targu playing in ROM Div A in Romania then signed Mathis for the remainder of the 2022-23 season. Mathis played 19 games averaging 16.1 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 26.3 minutes played. While playing in Romania, he played against Rattlers teammate D’Andre Bernard.
Prior to his professional career, Mathis attended West Linn High School in West Linn, Oregon. He led West Linn to three consecutive 6A state basketball championships alongside NBA guard Payton Pritchard. He earned First Team All-State as a junior and Second Team All-State as a senior. Mathis spent four years with the University of New Mexico Lobos; where he averaged 9.6 points, 1.2 assists, 1.6 rebounds, and 19.0 minutes playing 107 games. During his time with New Mexico, he set a record for most three-pointers made in a single season (106 as a senior) and sits in second for Lobos all-time collegiate-career best three-pointer percentage (43.1%). In his final season in the NCAA, Mathis transferred to University of Oregon where he reunited with high school teammate Payton Pritchard. With the Ducks, he averaged 8.5 points, 0.9 assists, 2.3 rebounds, and 23.5 minutes playing 31 games. Mathis made a career-high nine three-pointers in a game on November 9th, which is the second most three-pointers all-time in a single game in Oregon Ducks history. As a starter, Mathis played alongside NBA guards Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte. The Oregon Ducks finished their season in first place in the PAC-12 conference. The PAC-12 championship was cancelled along with all other post-season tournaments.
“Looking forward to joining the team and doing whatever I can to help us win games” said Mathis “I’ve played against a couple of the guys on the team, so finally playing on the same team is going to be fun. I have been here for a short time now, and the team has already been super helpful to get me adjusted with everything. Looking forward to getting on the floor with them.”
The Rattlers will play their first game with Mathis on Wednesday June 13th 2023 against the Edmonton Stingers in Edmonton, AB at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.
The Saskatchewan Rattlers individual game tickets range from $20 in the Rattlers Fan Zone section to $90 for seating in the courtside row 2 (All courtside row 1 offers are sold out), three-games bundles start at $28/seat per game in the bronze section, and half season five-packs start at $35/seat per game in the silver section. All ticket can also be purchased through the
Rattlers Front Office
(306) 244-2181,
Saskatchewan Rattlers website
, or via
Ticketmaster
. For more seating options, luxury suites, and group rates; fans can contact an
account executive
All games including playoffs will be live streamed
on CEBL’s OTT platform,
CEBL+
Powered by BetVictor
, and on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices). TSN will showcase live coverage of select CEBL games on TSN and
TSN+
.
About the Saskatchewan Rattlers
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are Saskatchewan’s professional basketball team, one of the six original team’s in the CEBL – the Rattlers won the 2019 inaugural season championship. Playing out of SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – the Rattlers offer an entertainment-focused environment surrounded by some of the world’s top professional athletes. The Rattlers are a community-first organization and take pride in their ability to bring communities together while making sport more accessible to the province.
About the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)
A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 71 percent of its 2022 roster being Canadian Players bringing experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Nine players have moved from the CEBL into the NBA following a CEBL season, and 28 CEBL players have attended NBA G League training camps during October. The CEBL runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, & YouTube.
Contact:
Brennan Elliott
Director, Communication and Content
Saskatchewan Rattlers
(306) 290-5955