5-star Tennessee WR pledge Mike Matthews makes emphatic statement about commitment
Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews is one of the crown jewels of Tennessee‘s top-10 football recruiting class.
The 6-foot, 180-pounder is one of the Vols’ two five-star commitments this cycle, along with Birmingham (Ala.) Vestavia Hills EDGE Jordan Ross. Matthews picked Tennessee in July over Clemson, Georgia, USC and dozens of other programs, but schools haven’t stopped from recruiting him despite his pledge.
Matthews isn’t listening, though.
“I am committed to Tennessee. It is that simple,” he told Volquest.com’s Matt Ray earlier this week.
While other schools have reached out about getting visits from Matthews, the only school he plans to see before he signs is Tennessee and will be at multiple games this season. He was already in town for the South Carolina game and loved what he saw in Knoxville.
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“As a commit, you could definitely feel the emotion out here tonight,” Matthews said. “Everybody knows why you are there and everybody knows that you are committed and it brings a different type of intensity to the game. So just to have that around really just shows me how the community loves me here. It was a great atmosphere tonight.”
Vols looking to add a few more pieces to elite recruiting class
With Matthews and Ross leading the way, Tennessee’s class currently sits at No. 7 nationally in the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings. The Vols have 20 commitments already, but are looking for a few big pieces to add down the stretch of the recruiting cycle.
Three of them — five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, four-star wide receiver Kam Mikell and four-star running back Daniel Hill — were all in attendance at last Saturday’s game. Seaton is arguably Tennessee’s biggest remaining target, and they made a major impression on him over the weekend.
“There was some buzz around the Florida in this race earlier in the summer and Billy Napier‘s program hopes that returns next week,” On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons wrote on Thursday. “Tennessee really impressed Seaton and the Vols are expected to receive an official visit. Alabama set the bar high with an official visit in June. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and South Carolina are others in the mix.”
The Vols are also trending as the top school right now with Mikell, who is set to visit Texas A&M this weekend.
“Mikell is coming off an official visit to Tennessee and I continue to feel the Vols are setting the pace in this race,” Simmons added. “Tennessee has done a great job connecting with Mikell, showing him their plan as a wide receiver in their offense and he sees a great opportunity in Knoxville.”