Broken Arrow girls 2025 guard McKenzie Mathurin meeting her higher expectations entering this season
McKenzie Mathurin came into the season with high expectations.
Coming off a breakout sophomore campaign, the Broken Arrow junior wasn't looking to stay at the same level. She wanted more.
“I just wanted to be a really dominant figure on the floor,” Mathurin said. “I wanted just to be a threat everywhere I am. Defense, offense, wherever. That's been my mindset since I've really started basketball.
"But I really started to hone in on it last year and then over the summer, I was working on it and then it's starting to show this year.”
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It appears what Mathurin sets her mind to gets done. The Tigers’ 5-foot-10 shooting guard has been every bit the dominant figure every night she touches the floor, according to Broken Arrow coach Shane Coffey.
“She's a hard worker, she's committed, she's got a lot of drive to be able to help our team be the best it can be,” Coffey said.
Through 18 games this season, Mathurin was averaging 22.3 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 44 percent from the field. Throw in her two steals a night and she has been effective on both ends of the floor, which was something she worked on throughout the offseason.
Broken Arrow junior guard McKenzie Mathurin (with ball) drives in for a shot during a recent game. Mathurin has committed to play college basketball at the University of Nebraska.
Yet, Mathurin knows there are areas she still wants to improve.
“I just want to be a finisher and I want to get steals, get easy layups, and then just finish around the 3-point line,” Mathurin. “It all starts with my defense. That's where my energy comes from. That's where the whole team's energy comes from.
"Playing hard on D, using each other and then getting good looks.”
Coffey says he has seen that determination from Mathurin to improve and expand her game throughout their time together.
“This is my third year here, so we've grown up together here,” Coffey said. “I was at the University of Tulsa for 10 years prior to this and having her as a freshman, it's been fun watching her grow up. She learned through trial by error.
"We made her a point guard that first year and she's expanded her game in a lot of different levels. When she first came to us, she was a downhill driver. Now, she can go and score at all three levels.”
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Even before Mathurin scored her first point with Broken Arrow, colleges were on her trail. That includes Coffey when he was at Tulsa. He, like others, saw her Division I potential early on.
“I think my mom (Amber) realized it first," Mathurin said. “She's kind of always known.
"It kind of first hit me when I got my first Division I offer from OU (University of Oklahoma) in the seventh grade and I mean it was really just uphill from there.”
At one point, Oklahoma was her dream school. But after they changed its coaching staff, she started looking at other programs. Mathurin ended up choosing a team a little farther north when she committed to the University of Nebraska as a sophomore.
“It was their coaching staff. They've been on me since early Day 1,” Mathurin said. “I think they were my second or third Division I offer. They've just been with me throughout my entire career and never backed off.
"They kept keeping in touch, kept coming to all my summer games, and all my high school games. It just really meant a lot to me.”
Mathurin still has the rest of this year and her senior campaign before she starts the collegiate phase of her career. That means she can improve upon her overall game even more.
“I still think that she's always wanting to elevate her game, and I think that is the foundation to a great player,” Coffey said. “And when you look at what she does, she's putting in the hours when nobody's watching, putting in that extra time.
"And as long as she continues to do that and continues to work on her craft, and as coaches, we keep giving her nuggets of things that we want her to be able to do better, the sky's the limit for this young lady. She's going to finish off with a great career here at Broken Arrow, but then go on and be successful at the next level as well.”
On Friday, Mathurin scored 22 points - a team-high - as Broken Arrow posted a 72-44 win at Jenks, as the Lady Tigers (15-7) have now won 11 of their last 13 ballgames.
The Lady Tigers will conclude their regular season on Tuesday with a home game against Bixby.
-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK
