Kentucky CB target Jermaine Mathews commits to Ohio State
We have reached the dead period in college football recruiting, but that is in name only. The arrival of July means a plethora of college decisions to be made. In consecutive days, Kentucky saw a pair of four-star cornerbacks come off the board.
Just 24 hours after losing Robert Stafford to Miami, Cincinnati (Ohio) Winton Woods cornerback Jermaine Mathews committed to Ohio State.
The 5-foot-11 cornerback is the No. 345 prospect in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. A top-10 recruit in Ohio, Jermaine Mathews has been a late riser after two outstanding camp performances at LSU and Ohio State. The Buckeyes issued a scholarship offer after hosting the prospect on campus for the camp visit and then got Mathews back to Columbus for an official visit on the weekend of June 17. It was all over after that.
Mathews plays high school ball with Cameron Calhoun. The cornerback was once seen as a Kentucky lean before committing to West Virginia. However, Cincinnati got the local prospect on campus for an official visit in June and was able to complete a flip. At one time in the spring, Kentucky might have been considered the favorite to land the two Ohio natives. Now the Wildcats are still looking for cornerback help.
Currently, the state of Ohio has 11 top-500 recruits, and Ryan Day’s staff at Ohio State has commitments from six of them following the decision from Jermaine Mathews. The Buckeyes have landed four of the five top-250 recruits as recruiting locally has become a bigger emphasis since Urban Meyer stepped aside.
Kentucky’s focus now turns to Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren defensive back Cristian Conyer is set to announce his commitment on Sunday afternoon.
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