Toms River (N.J.) Toms River North offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews took an official visit to Rutgers on the weekend of June 1 and after taking hard looks at Georgia, Miami and Tennessee, the No. 300 prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking has committed to the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers was first to offer the 6-foot-5, 295-pounder. With the school being less than an hour from home, Matthews visited it more than any other program on his list. That gave Greg Schiano time to build that relationship and that ended up being a big factor in his decision.
“The connection me and coach Schiano have is different,” Matthews told On3. “He is a great guy with the same principles and morals that my family has. He is going to train me to be the best man I can be off the field and push me to be the best football player I can be on the field.
“As soon as coach Schiano got there, he took over my recruitment and made me a priority. He got on me my sophomore year, then really came hard my junior year and how we built that relationship over time really made an impact on my decision.
“Coach Schiano is a father figure to me. He has taken me under his wing. He wanted me at Rutgers. We can talk about anything. I look up to him like I do my dad, I trust that he cares about me and I know I am going to play for a great man.”
Matthews is excited to stay home with Rutgers
Matthews was leaning toward Tennessee not too long ago. Rutgers’ consistency paid off though. The relationships were established early, the message never changed and he is happy to be a Scarlet Knight.
“The relationship I have with the players, how all of the coaches know me, the culture under coach Schiano and how they have always been the same with me was big,” Matthews said. “They say prayers after every game, the coaches are about their players and the culture is a big deal.
“I have visited Rutgers over 10 times and it is different. The culture makes Rutgers special. The coaches stay the same and that means a lot to me.”
When Matthews played the state championship game at Rutgers in the fall, he started to think that could be his home. Over the last six months, different teams were competing with Rutgers on top of his list, but he kept coming back to the Scarlet Knight. After that official visit, he knew where he wanted to be.
“On the official visit, I knew I was home. I knew this was the place. The coaches stayed with me, the culture fit me and I had that feeling. I went home after the visit and prayed on it for a couple of days, then I told coach Schiano last week.
“He was so excited and I am excited to stay home and be part of the Schiano family at Rutgers.”
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