The day after coach Mike Sherman spoke at the Big 12 football media days, A&M stole a big time recruit in the form of Jake Matthews. Matthews is the son of Bruce Matthews and brother of current Aggie center Kevin Matthews. The Elkins High school star doesn’t actually sign until February but a verbal commitment is a big deal, and the fact that a four win Aggie team was and the able to steal a prospect of his caliber from the likes of Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma, and other elites reflects greatly on coach Sherman’s ability to recruit and the power of the Aggie family and network in its ability to work on the field for recruiting as much as it does off the field for the rest of the student body.
Matthews is the 20th verbal commitment for the high school class of 2010. In addition to Matthews, A&M has verbal commitments from players such as OT Luke Joeckel, OLB Corey Nelson, OG Shep Klinke, and TE Nehemiah Hicks. All five players are listed in ESPN’s Top 150 prospects for the class of 2010. Sherman was only able to get one prospect in the top 150 from the incoming A&M class of 2013; RB Christine Michael, the 35th highest rated prospect in the nation.
