2021 DE out of Georgia, Ian Mathews announced his offer from the Razorbacks yesterday. They're his third DI offer, joining Duke and Virginia Tech (offered 3 days before). Mathews plays at a 1A private school and no one had ever heard of him until a few days ago. Chad Simmons will go out to see him late this week or early next week. His school, St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic, is located just outside Columbus near the Alabama-Georgia border. Mathews boasts a 3.2 GPA and says he wants to wait until after the season to make a decision.
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My Q&A with the Georgia sleeper:
Nikki: I checked with the analyst and he said he hadn't heard of Pacelli before, when did you start going there?
Ian: I started going there in 9th grade. I started playing football in 8th grade but it wasn't really organized. Then I played in 9th grade but I didn't get much playing time. I didn't play 10th grade and then I played again last year.
Nikki: Why didn't you play in 10th grade?
Ian: The coaching situation really wasn't good so my mom decided to not let me play and so I focused on basketball. We got a new coach junior year.
Nikki: Arkansas shot you that offer today, who'd you talk to about it? You play TE and DE, which did they offer you for?
Ian: Defense end, I talked to Coach leBlanc. He said he liked my tape and how I could move at my size, not a lot of people can do that. He was telling me how I'd fit in the program and he wants me to come there.
Nikki: How did your recruitment process start?
Ian: I'd had some D2 offers but when that Duke offer hit (Sept. 24), that's when all the other DI schools started talking.
Nikki: Did you expect this?
Ian: I wasn't expecting it for real. I knew I wanted to go to college and play football but when that first DI hit, it made me think like this is really what I'm finna be doing for the rest of my life.
Nikki: When'd you grow to 6'5"? How quick are you?
Ian: I really hit my growth spurt in 9th grade. I was 6-foot coming in and then I hit my growth spurt. My 40 is a 5.1
Nikki: You have these options now so how are you going to approach this process?
Ian: I'm just going to look at my options and see where I fit best at.
Nikki: Without visits how are you going to work that out?
Ian: I didn't take any visits before the dead period so I'm probably going to have to go just see campus and some I'll rely on virtual visits. I could maybe get to Arkansas, just depends on what we'd have to do to get there.
Nikki: Growing up in Georgia, have you been an SEC fan? Did you catch the Georgia-Arkansas game?
Ian: I really do be an SEC fan, my favorite team's been Georgia for a long time. At first, I did not know Arkansas was going to come out like that. Then in the second half I was like "oh snap" I didn't know that was happening.
Nikki: Besides program fit, what else are you looking for in a school?
Ian: Personally, I'm looking for academics. I want to major in physical therapy/medicine. Second, I want to see how they help out in the community.
Georgia Tech has also made contact but waiting for more tape.
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