Roth Down To Two

Washington (Ill.) Community High standout Matt Roth appears to be ready to make his college decision soon, but the sweet-shooting guard will not be playing for coach Rick Majerus at Saint Louis University.

According to an internet report by Jim Mattson of HOI-19, Roth called the Billiken coaches on Monday and told them he won’t become a Billiken. Roth is now down to Bradley and Indiana, recently made unofficial visits to both schools and could make his decision by the end of this week, Mattson wrote.

Roth was an Associated Press first-team all-state selection after averaging 21.1 points per game as a junior. He was a Mid-Illini Conference first-team selection after helping the school win its third straight outright league title and was the MVP of the Pekin Holiday Tournament.

Roth made 143 3-pointers, which was three short of the state record, and made 48.1 percent of his 297 attempts. He made 100 3-pointers as a freshman and 86 as a sophomore. Roth made 12 3-pointers in a game in December in which he scored 37 points.

He has a career scoring average of 16.4 points per game, with 1,439 points (fourth in school history) in 88 games. He is a career 44.5 percent 3-point shooter (329 of 739) and 84.4 percent free throw shooter (168 of 199).

Roth could have been the sixth member of the Billikens recruiting class for the 2008-09 season, joining post players Brett Thompson and Willie Reed, forward Brian Conklin and guards Kwamain Mitchell and Femi John.

It looks like SLU is trying to add another shooting guard — John’s position — in this group. The Billikens offered a scholarship to Evansville (Ind.) shooting guard Kyle Kuric and recently received an unofficial visit from Olathe (Ks.) South shooting guard Denver Holmes.

Matt Roth Profile