Matisse Thybulle

Matisse Vincent Thybulle was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, to Greg and Dr. Elizabeth Thybulle. He spent much of his early years in Australia, where he was more interested in swimming than basketball. After seven years abroad, Thybulle's family returned to the United States and settled near Seattle, Washington. Thybulle attended Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington, for two years, then transferred to nearby Eastside Catholic School, where he emerged as a top-150 prospect. Near the end of his senior season, Thybulle's mom passed away after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Thybulle consequently wore No. 4 in college to honor his mother and wears No. 22 in the NBA since it adds to four. He has also taken time to visit and motivate young leukemia patients in local hospitals. Learn more about Thybulle by following him on Twitter (@MatisseThybulle) and on Instagram (@theycallmetisse). Thybulle was a record-setting defensive performer in his four years with Washington. He started all but one of the 135 games in which he appeared. He was part of a recruiting class that included Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss. The 6-foot-5 forward averaged 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 steals as a freshman. He improved to 10.5 points and 2.1 steals in his sophomore season while also converting 40.5 percent of his three-pointers that year. He debuted with a season-high 20 points and six blocks in a win over Yale. In 2017-18, Lorenzo Romar was replaced by Mike Hopkins as coach and the Syracuse zone seemed to unleash Thybulle as a defensive force. He set a school record with 101 steals and led the team with 49 blocks. The forward also averaged 11.2 points and 2.9 rebounds. Thybulle won Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors and repeated as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He produced averages of 3.5 steals and 2.3 blocks along with 9.1 points. He passed Gary Payton as the all-time conference steals leader and became the first Pac-12 player to record two 100-steal seasons, and he is the only player in Huskies history ranked in the top 10 in both career steals and blocks. Thybulle was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft with the 20th overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.