Matthew Mayer and Jackson Moffatt Notes: Mayer Tells Kendall He’s 70-30 on Returning to Baylor

I just got done interviewing national champions Matthew Mayer and Jackson Moffatt.

The biggest takeaway is that Mayer told me he’s 70-30 on returning to Baylor. He said, “If I were heading in, I’m leaning toward coming back to school, but I’ve heard a lot of good feedback.” He added, “I want to come back, unless a team is willing to take me first round or really early second. That is somewhat likely right now. There’s a lot left on the table, I still have to workout for teams and talk to people.” He said, “It’s like 70-30 coming back.”

So my takeaway is that this really could go either way. It’s pretty clear that Mayer loves Baylor and playing college basketball. He’ll have the chance to star—and along with Adam Flagler—should be in line to have the offense run through him.

But Mayer’s 6-foot-9 with a good handle and excellent shot. Wings are the currency of the NBA, and as he alluded to with his answer above, plenty of teams will be very interested in him. Former NBA executive and Athletic writer, John Hollinger, has had Matthew Mayer as his biggest draft sleeper all year. Other draft analysts list Mayer as a second round selection right now, including the Athletic and ESPN.

Beyond the NBA news, I spoke to the duo for about 15 minutes.

Moffatt is studying for the MCAT and would like to attend a medical school semi-close to home. He thought he’d shave the mullet sometime before he’s a doctor since not many good doctors keep them. When I added that I didn’t know of any bad doctors with them either, Moffatt laughed but did not pledge to keep the mullet.

Mayer had an interesting story about the title game. He said as they left the locker room, Scott Drew had Mark Vital and MaCio Teague stand at the exit. Drew made each teammate walk by the pair and tell them, “This isn’t your last game.” Sure enough that calmed the nerves, and Baylor blitzed Villanova on the way to a title.

Moffatt and Jackson had a lot of other positives to share. They both thought Jared Butler enjoyed being a national champion the most. Moffatt thought John Jakus’ scouting report really helped against Gonzaga—something Drew credited and I go in-depth about in my book, which is now available.

Both were thrilled to be mentioned in the company of the Big 12’s best teams and though the Bears could compete with anyone.