Yesterday, Former Detroit Titan Joel Matthews was selected No. 31 overall in the National Lacrosse League Draft by the Buffalo Bandits. From the source. We live in a weird, weird world, and you can actually re-watch the draft on Youtube (cued to the relevant portion, but with an intervening irrelevant interview). Stick around until 1:56:30 or so to hear the breakdown of Matthews.
The UDM website has a story with full quotes. IL Indoor had actually expected Matthews to go as high as No. 16:
16. Buffalo (from Colorado via Toronto via Edmonton) Joel Matthews, LF/T The buzz was that Buffalo was going to take Matthews at 13, but it’s hard to imagine they could pass up Bender at that spot. So they’ll be pleased as punch that Matthews is still on the board for them here.
Lacrosse Magazine sheds some lightonto what went down there:
“We were able to get some guys later on that we had rated a lot higher. Some guys slid to us that we were real happy with. We wanted to get some guys who could come in and compete for spots right away, and I think we did that.
Of course, “professional” leagues that can’t pay full-time salaries have a bit different drafting strategy, so I’m not sure if any franchise other than Buffalo – the closest to his home in St. Catharines, Ontario – would have had an excellent chance of signing him.
No longer at UDM? What happened?
Somebody indicated to me that the issues keeping him out of a lot of games toward the end of last season would most likely prevent him from returning to the UDM team, and that seems to have come to fruition.