Bayron Matos is arriving to the University of New Mexico for the 2020 spring semester, the 6’9″ player announced on Sunday morning.
The news was hardly as secret, as the Lair had already tweeted about it in December. However, Matos waited until a day before the semester started to make it public.
After several thoughts and the approval of my family and the people who have done everything for me as they are Lenny Minaya and Ollie Goulston I want to announce that I will start my University career in the next few days with the Lobos of New Mexico @UNMLoboMBB @UNMLOBOS pic.twitter.com/YZz9JnHTy3
— Bayron matos (@Big_Matos07) January 19, 2020
The power forward committed to Mississippi State in October 2018 but reopened his recruitment in August 2019. He is coming from Hamilton Heights in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time he signed his National Letter of Intent Matos ranked No. 3 in his state, registering the most rebounds. His Hamilton Height roster took the 2018 State Championship as Matos also picked up the most double-doubles in Tennessee.
Matos, who grew up in the Dominican Republic, had said that other than playing time and a sense of family, he wanted to find a place with Spanish speaking people and some of that culture. Other schools that were interested in him included West Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Dayton and Texas.
Matos arrived to Albuquerque for an official visit to New Mexico on Oct. 4 2019 and committed to the school 24 hours later. He was the first player of the 2020 recruiting class to commit. Assistant coach Brandon Mason led the recruiting efforts.
“Bayron brings an infectious energy and enthusiasm to our team immediately,” said UNM head coach Paul Weir when Matos signed his NLI in November. “He has a developed body that will allow him to be physically ready to play right away in college basketball, which is rare for a freshman. He is a nationally recognized talent and we can’t wait to get him here and help train him into a potentially dominant post presence in the Mountain West.”
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