ASUN Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
3. Garrison Mathews
Casey Alexander’s Lipscomb squad was pretty good at the end of his run and Mathews was a major reason why. A 6’5 guard from Franklin, Tennessee, he stayed in state and became a star for the Bisons, playing in Nashville between 2015 and 2019.
Mathews earned his way into the starting lineup during his freshman season and still put up decent figures, though the Bisons struggled as a team. Those struggles would not continue, as the program would win at least 20 games in each of the next three seasons. At the same time, Mathews averaged no less than 20 points per game in those three seasons, hitting 40% of his 3-pointers in a fantastic senior season. Among his finest performances was a 33-point effort in the ASUN title game in 2018 and a 44-point effort at NC State the following year during Lipscomb’s run to the NIT title game.
Mathews was one of the ASUN’s best offensive players in recent memory. He was a three-time First Team All-ASUN honoree, was Tournament MVP as a junior, Player of the Year as a senior, and led the league in points scored in consecutive seasons. His offensive metrics were off the charts and he took Lipscomb to their most impressive two-year stretch in program history. He was undoubtedly a mid-major star by the end of the 2010’s.