MIDDLETOWN – Just days after signing a tender contract in late May to return to the New Jersey Titans for the 2019-2020 season, Matt Cameron announced his commitment to NCAA Division I Niagara University.
Cameron, A Berwyn, Pennsylvania native who played his youth hockey with the North Jersey Avalanche, will report to the Purple Eagles for the 2020-21 season.
Two years ago the 18-year old forward began his junior hockey career with the Titans after Coach Craig Doremus made him a fifth-round selection in the 2017 NAHL Entry Draft.
READ MORE: 3 Questions for Coach Doremus from Titans pre-draft camp
Cameron scored 22 goals and assisted on 16 more in his first season with the Titans, helping the organization to a 2017-18 Robertson Cup Playoffs appearance.
Prior to committing to Niagara, Cameron was previously committed to Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2017. His younger brother Michael announced his commitment to the University of Massachusetts in January.
Cameron spent the entirety of last season in the United State Hockey League (USHL).
In 55 USHL games – 13 with the Sioux Falls Stampede and 42 with the Waterloo Black Hawks – Cameron logged 16 points on five goals and 11 assists.
Titans Head Coach and General Manager, Craig Doremus, said Cameron’s return to Middletown is one he anticipates will help fortify the culture he and his coaching staff began instilling in this organization when he took the reins in 2016-17.
“What’s exciting to me is when we came on board three years ago we talked about an organizational culture. What we have with a guy like Matt is a player who advanced to the USHL, and now wants to come back. I think it’s such a credit to all the people in the building, the staff, the players, the type of family and type of tradition we’re building here. Matt was around our team throughout the playoffs. He stayed in touch with the staff and players throughout the year. You saw he has a passion for more than just hockey. He cares about being a Titan. He wants to be a Titan. And that desire is going to have an impact on the rest of our team, and this community,” Doremus said.
The winger was on hand at the Titans pre-NAHL Draft camp May 30-June 2, an appearance Doremus said speaks volumes about Cameron as an organizational leader.
“When you talk about people of that quality and hockey players of that quality who want to be a part of your program, to me, that’s when you have the start of something special,” Doremus added. “I don’t want to sit here and say that we don’t want players to go to the USHL and advance their careers, because we certainly do. But I think that the most important part of it is taking pride in what our program is about. And that’s not just the 60 game season and the practices. It’s more about the entire picture on and off the ice. Being ingrained in the community and having relationships with fans and billet families, and taking pride in it.”
“Matt sat here at camp and helped fill water bottles, moved pucks around, did nothing ‘on the ice.’ But I think he’s enhanced [the camp]. And you have guys like Jake LaRusso and Gavin Gulash who have been here, even a kid like Jimmy Dowd comes back and he’s been around the camp with us. Tyler Antonucci our former captain is here, Ryan Wheeler’s here. When you talk about having these guys take time out of their own lives to come back and just see and meet people and connect with the future Titans, I think that’s so special. That’s something that I know we’ve taken pride in and we’ve talked about a lot, but to see it start to come to fruition is really gratifying.”
