University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: John Kelley
Yante Maten: An Appreciation
February 24, 2018 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Yante Maten is many things: senior forward for the Georgia men's basketball team, low-key superstar, team leader, animal lover.
There's no possible way to look this up, but this feels like a sure thing: the 6-foot-8 Maten, who had just a spectacular game in Georgia's 93-82 victory against LSU on Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum, could be the best basketball player to ever major in Fisheries & Wildlife.
"Since I was a kid I've always liked animals, always watched the Discovery Channel and that type of stuff," Maten told me a year ago during a Quick Chat. "I guess that probably played into it and I always thought about maybe one day making my own rehabilitation center for some type of animals, or something like that."
A native of Pontiac, Mich. — part of a wave of current Bulldog stars from Michigan, that includes freshman swimmer Camden Murphy (from Novi) and sophomore Gymdog Rachel Dickson (Canton) — Maten, in his penultimate appearance at Stegeman, lit up LSU: 27 points (going 10-for-14 from the field), 11 rebounds and six blocks, which tied a career high.
He is only the fifth player in the country this season with a game of at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and the first in the SEC.
It was kind of a classic Maten game, doing a lot of things well. He came into Saturday leading the SEC in scoring with 19.3 points per game and third in rebounding (8.6). It was his 12th double-double in 28 games.
Coming off the bench as a freshman, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.2 minutes a game. Since then, he's been an offensive centerpiece: 16.5 points per game as a sophomore, 18.2 last season and now more than 19 an outing, despite a lot of defenses focused on slowing him down.
That kind of consistent offensive execution is why Maten on Saturday moved into the No. 2 spot on Georgia's career scoring list, passing two all-time great Bulldogs in Vern Fleming and Alec Kessler. Maten's 27 points gave him 1,797 for his career, trailing only Litterial Green's 2,111. Maten also moved up to No. 5 on the rebounds list, with 850, passing Charles Claxton on Saturday. He's already No. 3 in blocked shots, as well.
"It means a lot, just being able to represent my school in the way that I tried for the past four years, and having the opportunity to make plays night in and night out," said Maten, who seldom seems comfortable talking about his achievements.
And maybe that's part of why both coach Mark Fox and junior forward Derek Ogbeide both quickly mentioned his character when describing him.
"He's an extremely high-character guy. ... I feel like that really translates to his game, in a lot of ways," said Ogbeide, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds Saturday.
Fox, when asked about Maten, took a deep breath and paused for several seconds before giving a lengthy answer.
"You know, Yante Maten is top five in scoring, top five in rebounding, top five in blocked shots, probably has a chance to become top 5 in wins, but number one is that he is the highest quality young person that I have ever been around. He's got tremendous character," Fox said. "I mean he is as good a person as I have ever been associated with, and we have had a lot of great kids. He is an absolute stud of a person.
"He has had a phenomenal career statistically and I think he would probably give the credit away. He had tremendous leaders when he came in, with Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic, and he saw great examples from day one.
"(Assistant coach) Jonas Hayes often says it amazes him how coachable Yante Maten remains. A lot of guys have great success and sometimes they don't listen as much when they start putting up these numbers. Yante has remained unbelievably coachable and has just been an absolutely phenomenal college basketball player, and I hope that he will be able to finish on a high note."
That was an answer worth sharing in full, because it says a great deal about Maten and his coach's affection for the All-SEC player.
With all of his gaudy career numbers and the Bulldogs' home finale coming up Wednesday night, against Texas A&M, Maten has clearly been here a while. Saturday's game was No. 123 in his career.
"It feels like I've been here a while — not near as long as Juwan Parker," he joked, referencing his fifth-year senior teammate, "but I feel like I've been here a good time now."
Speaking of good times, Saturday was certainly one for Maten.
With Georgia up 12-9 early, William Jackson II fed the ball to Maten on the right side with the shot clocking winding down. He collected the ball, saw he had a smaller man on him, dribbled left, a fake, spun right, hit a short jump hook and drew a foul, hitting the free throw.
Maten had 13 points, five rebounds and five blocks at the half, with Georgia leading 45-34.
Later, in transition, Maten fed the ball down to Ogbeide, who drew the lone defender to him and then passed it back to the senior for a dunk and a 58-36 lead.
Maten's final rebound kind of epitomized a lot about the man, Saturday's game and his career. After an LSU missed 3-pointer, five guys in the paint went up for the rebound — he came down with his 11th of the game.
Across all of its sports, Georgia has so many Bulldogs that you look forward to watching each time they perform. In 2017-18, Maten is at the top of the list — as he has been three years running.
Staff Writer
Yante Maten is many things: senior forward for the Georgia men's basketball team, low-key superstar, team leader, animal lover.
There's no possible way to look this up, but this feels like a sure thing: the 6-foot-8 Maten, who had just a spectacular game in Georgia's 93-82 victory against LSU on Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum, could be the best basketball player to ever major in Fisheries & Wildlife.
"Since I was a kid I've always liked animals, always watched the Discovery Channel and that type of stuff," Maten told me a year ago during a Quick Chat. "I guess that probably played into it and I always thought about maybe one day making my own rehabilitation center for some type of animals, or something like that."
A native of Pontiac, Mich. — part of a wave of current Bulldog stars from Michigan, that includes freshman swimmer Camden Murphy (from Novi) and sophomore Gymdog Rachel Dickson (Canton) — Maten, in his penultimate appearance at Stegeman, lit up LSU: 27 points (going 10-for-14 from the field), 11 rebounds and six blocks, which tied a career high.
He is only the fifth player in the country this season with a game of at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, and the first in the SEC.
It was kind of a classic Maten game, doing a lot of things well. He came into Saturday leading the SEC in scoring with 19.3 points per game and third in rebounding (8.6). It was his 12th double-double in 28 games.
Coming off the bench as a freshman, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.2 minutes a game. Since then, he's been an offensive centerpiece: 16.5 points per game as a sophomore, 18.2 last season and now more than 19 an outing, despite a lot of defenses focused on slowing him down.
That kind of consistent offensive execution is why Maten on Saturday moved into the No. 2 spot on Georgia's career scoring list, passing two all-time great Bulldogs in Vern Fleming and Alec Kessler. Maten's 27 points gave him 1,797 for his career, trailing only Litterial Green's 2,111. Maten also moved up to No. 5 on the rebounds list, with 850, passing Charles Claxton on Saturday. He's already No. 3 in blocked shots, as well.
"It means a lot, just being able to represent my school in the way that I tried for the past four years, and having the opportunity to make plays night in and night out," said Maten, who seldom seems comfortable talking about his achievements.
And maybe that's part of why both coach Mark Fox and junior forward Derek Ogbeide both quickly mentioned his character when describing him.
"He's an extremely high-character guy. ... I feel like that really translates to his game, in a lot of ways," said Ogbeide, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds Saturday.
Fox, when asked about Maten, took a deep breath and paused for several seconds before giving a lengthy answer.
"You know, Yante Maten is top five in scoring, top five in rebounding, top five in blocked shots, probably has a chance to become top 5 in wins, but number one is that he is the highest quality young person that I have ever been around. He's got tremendous character," Fox said. "I mean he is as good a person as I have ever been associated with, and we have had a lot of great kids. He is an absolute stud of a person.
"He has had a phenomenal career statistically and I think he would probably give the credit away. He had tremendous leaders when he came in, with Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic, and he saw great examples from day one.
"(Assistant coach) Jonas Hayes often says it amazes him how coachable Yante Maten remains. A lot of guys have great success and sometimes they don't listen as much when they start putting up these numbers. Yante has remained unbelievably coachable and has just been an absolutely phenomenal college basketball player, and I hope that he will be able to finish on a high note."
That was an answer worth sharing in full, because it says a great deal about Maten and his coach's affection for the All-SEC player.
With all of his gaudy career numbers and the Bulldogs' home finale coming up Wednesday night, against Texas A&M, Maten has clearly been here a while. Saturday's game was No. 123 in his career.
"It feels like I've been here a while — not near as long as Juwan Parker," he joked, referencing his fifth-year senior teammate, "but I feel like I've been here a good time now."
Speaking of good times, Saturday was certainly one for Maten.
With Georgia up 12-9 early, William Jackson II fed the ball to Maten on the right side with the shot clocking winding down. He collected the ball, saw he had a smaller man on him, dribbled left, a fake, spun right, hit a short jump hook and drew a foul, hitting the free throw.
Maten had 13 points, five rebounds and five blocks at the half, with Georgia leading 45-34.
Later, in transition, Maten fed the ball down to Ogbeide, who drew the lone defender to him and then passed it back to the senior for a dunk and a 58-36 lead.
Maten's final rebound kind of epitomized a lot about the man, Saturday's game and his career. After an LSU missed 3-pointer, five guys in the paint went up for the rebound — he came down with his 11th of the game.
Across all of its sports, Georgia has so many Bulldogs that you look forward to watching each time they perform. In 2017-18, Maten is at the top of the list — as he has been three years running.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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