Donte Mathis (born July 13, 1977) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Texas State Bobcats men's team. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Bobcats from 1995 to 1999. Mathis played professionally in Europe for 13 years.

Playing career

High school career

Mathis attended East Central High School in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. He was a starter during his senior season as his team achieved a 35–0 record and won the 1995 Class 5A boys basketball state championship.

College career

Mathis was a four-year starter for the Bobcats under the direction of head coach Mike Miller. He was the runner-up for the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

Freshman of the Year award during the 1995–96 season. The Bobcats won the conference and tournament championship during the 1996–97 season. The team advanced to the first round of the 1997 NCAA tournament for the second tournament appearance in program history. Mathis was selected to the All-Southland second team and was named by his coaches and teammates as the Bobcats'

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. As a junior in the 1997–98 season, Mathis led his team in scoring with 18.6 points per game and was selected again as his team's most valuable player. He was named to the All-Southland first team. In his 1998–99 senior season, Mathis led his team in scoring for a second consecutive year with 17.6 points per game as the Bobcats finished with a 19–9 record. He was chosen as the

Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Southland Conference's (SLC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the conference's inaugural basketball season of 1963–64. Fiv ...

and named to the All-Southland first team. The Bobcats won their second Southland Conference championship. Mathis' career scoring record of 1,622 points ranks fourth highest in program history. He also ranks 3rd in steals with 161, 10th in assists with 259 and 16th in rebounds with 567. He is one of only four Bobcats players to have 1,300+ points, 500+ rebounds and 100+ steals. Mathis was inducted into the Texas State Athletics Hall of Honor in 2020.

Professional career

Mathis played for the

Billings RimRockers The Billings RimRockers was a professional basketball team based in Billings, Montana that competed in the International Basketball Association (IBA) beginning in the 1998–99 season. The team folded along with the IBA after the 2000–01 season. ...

of the

International Basketball Association The International Basketball Association (IBA) was founded in 1995 by a group of businessmen led by Tom Anderson. The original owners of franchises in the league were George Daniel (Black Hills Posse-Rapid City, SD), John Korsmo, Al Gardner, and A ...

from 1999 to 2001 and averaged 13.5 points per game. Mathis played in Europe for 13 years where he spent the majority of his career in Italy for 11 seasons. He played one season each in Germany and Slovenia. Mathis won three championships. Mathis played for Krka during the 2002–03 season. He played for

Pistoia Basket 2000 A.S. Pistoia Basket 2000, known for sponsorship reasons as OriOra Pistoia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Pistoia, Tuscany. History The city of Pistoia was formerly represented in the first division LBA by Olimpia Basket Pist ...

in 2011–12 and

Orlandina Basket Orlandina Basket, known as Infodrive Capo d'Orlando for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Capo d'Orlando, Sicily. It plays in the second tier Serie A2 Basket. Founded in 1978, it was one of the youn ...

in 2012–13.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended in 2013, Mathis served as a clinician in partnership with

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

to develop basketball internationally, volunteered to provide outlets for student-athletes to earn collegiate scholarships and was a player development specialist for collegiate and professional athletes. Mathis began his coaching career as head coach and assistant athletic director at Texas Christian School of

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, in 2017. He led the team to the league championship quarterfinals in 2018 and the championship game in 2019. Mathis coached for one season at Brentwood Christian School in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. On August 27, 2021, Mathis returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for the Bobcats. Head coach

Terrence Johnson Terrence Johnson (born July 5, 1986) is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He played college football at California (PA). Johnson graduated from Woodland Hills High School outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is ...

stated that Mathis' connection to Texan basketball prospects would help with the team's recruiting efforts. He is responsible for mentoring the Texas State guards and oversees recruiting in

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Personal life

Mathis has two sons with his wife.

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Donte 1975 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Slovenia Basketball coaches from Texas Basketball players from San Antonio Guards (basketball) KK Krka players Orlandina Basket players Pistoia Basket 2000 players Texas State Bobcats men's basketball coaches Texas State Bobcats men's basketball players