5-Star DL Matayo Uiagalelei Visiting Oregon This Weekend
Dan Lanning and his staff know the importance of recruiting. That was evidenced in January and has certainly shown to be the case once again as visits open up in March.
One of the absolute top targets in this 2023 class for Oregon has been St. John Bosco (Calif.) defensive lineman Matayo Uiagelelei. And Oregon was able to get him on campus to finish out the January visit period.
The 6-foot-5, 263-pounder will again be on campus this weekend, his father Dave announced Tuesday night.
Per the tweet, Uiagelelei is the top-rated edge defender in the 247Sports rankings. (Not the composite) He is the No. 3 ranked defensive linemen per the On3 Consensus rankings.
“Coach (Dan) Lanning winning a national championship definitely helps a lot adding to his rėsumė. (It) shows that he can turn Oregon into a high level program, with his acumen and his rėsumė at Georgia.
“I like coach (Tosh) Lupoi, and he is very good at his job. Something that he explained to me that stood out to me was his time at Bama and the NFL experience he has.”
Also Tuesday night On3’s Chad Simmons provided an update on Uiagelelei who did not specify this visit. He did note several other visits for the Spring and added a few more thoughts on the Ducks. He was just coming off a trip to USC, his third trip to the campus since Lincoln Riley’s arrival.
“I like the new coaching staff with Coach Lanning, Coach Lupoi, Coach Tuioti,” he said. “I like all those guys. Oregon is a school that has a lot of potential, and I think the new staff will make them even better. I talked to Coach Lanning when I visited Georgia when I was a sophomore. You know, he’s a good guy. He’s definitely more of a defensive guy, and I’ll probably be playing D-end in college, so I like that.”
Ohio State and Clemson are also expected to get visits from the 5-Star this Spring/Summer.
He told Simmons that while he doesn’t have a date set for cutting his list down, it will likely come late this spring or summer. He expects to trim down to a top five or top seven and expects USC, Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State to be among the schools on it.
