One of [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s biggest 2024 targets tells On3 that he will be making another visit to Gainesville.
[autotag]Walter Matthews[/autotag], a 6-foot-7-inch, 245-pound junior athlete is being heavily recruited by the Gators. Despite being listed as an athlete, Matthews tells On3 that Florida would like to see him play tight end for the Orange and Blue.
According to Gators Online, Matthews was visited by Florida tight ends coach [autotag]William Peagler[/autotag] at his Georgia high school, Hiram High. A couple of weeks after that, Peagler returned to visit Matthews, this time with head coach Billy Napier along for the ride. Matthews is on record saying that the series of visits make him feel like he will be a good fit in Gainesville because of how important they are making him feel. He also added that Florida is the program recruiting him the hardest.
The visits clearly made an impact on Matthews, as he says he will be visiting Gainesville for a third time. Florida is the only program to date that Matthews has visited multiple times. He took two visits to The Swamp in 2022, including the home finale against South Carolina. While not providing an exact date, Matthews says he will be visiting in March as part of a Florida tour. He will also visit Florida State and Miami, the other two Florida schools that have offered him.
According to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine, the Gators are currently the leader in his recruitment with a 23.6% chance of landing him. Vanderbilt is second with 10.8%. While surprising at first glance, the Commodores should be taken seriously in his recruitment, with his uncle having earned All-American honors at tight end for the SEC East program.
Matthews is currently the No. 20 overall player in the state of Georgia, according to the On3 Consensus. He holds offers from multiple major programs like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, and many others, with Vanderbilt and Florida State currently posing the biggest threat to the Orange and Blue.
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