COLLEGE

Matheney played college basketball at Utah, As a freshman in 1974-75 he played for Jerry Pimm’s Utes in the Western Athletic Conference and appeared in 26 games for a 17-9 team that finished 7-7 in league play for fourth place, averaging 5.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists while shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 74.2 percent at the free throw line, and he finished that season with 133 points, 84 rebounds, and 9 assists.

As a sophomore in 1975-76, Matheney moved into a much larger role on a 19-8 Utah team that went 9-5 in WAC play and tied for second, and his season row shows 27 games, 23 starts, 26.3 minutes per game, 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game with 54.6 percent field-goal shooting and 83.1 percent free-throw shooting, while his official season scoring totals were 137 field goals, 64 free throws, and 338 points.

In 1976-77 he started all 29 games for a Utah team that won the WAC at 11-3 and finished 22-7 overall, and he averaged 29.8 minutes, 16.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game while shooting 58.2 percent from the floor and 73.3 percent at the line, producing 205 field goals, 77 free throws, 487 points, and 195 rebounds as Utah advanced to the NCAA Tournament and reached the regional semifinals after beating St. John’s 72-68 before losing 88-83 to UNLV.

That junior season also brought all-conference recognition, and Matheney was selected second-team All-WAC while playing alongside Jeff Jonas, Jeff Judkins, Greg Deane, Doug Terry, Charles Menatti, Mike Dunn, and Michael Gray on one of Utah’s best teams of the decade.

As a senior in 1977-78 he again played at an all-league level for Jerry Pimm, appearing in 29 games with 28 starts and averaging 29.0 minutes, 18.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the field and 86.9 percent at the free throw line, and his official scoring line for the season was 227 field goals, 73 free throws, and 527 points for a 23-6 Utah team that went 12-2 in WAC play, finished second, and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

His senior year included first-team All-WAC honors, a January 5, 1978 road win at Utah State in which he scored 19 points, a home upset of No. 5 New Mexico in which he and Jeff Judkins combined for 54 points, and the NCAA Tournament double-overtime win over Missouri on March 12, 1978 when he scored a career-high 36 points and poured in 10 points in the second overtime alone before Utah reached another regional semifinal.

Across his four Utah seasons, Matheney’s Sports Reference career totals show 111 games, 1,485 points, and a 13.4 points-per-game average, and his official Utah career scoring table breaks that production down as 133 points in 1974-75, 338 in 1975-76, 487 in 1976-77, and 527 in 1977-78.

His other verified Utah career totals include 624 field goals on 1,133 attempts for 55.1 percent shooting, 237 free throws on 297 attempts for 79.8 percent shooting, 665 rebounds, and 341 personal fouls, and he finished his college career high on Utah’s historical scoring and rebounding lists while also helping the program reach consecutive NCAA regional semifinals in 1977 and 1978.

Matheney’s college career closed with immediate pro interest as the Houston Rockets selected him with the 28th overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, and Utah’s 1977-78 team also had Jeff Judkins drafted 30th overall, underlining how strong that senior-led Utes group had become by the end of Matheney’s run in Salt Lake City.