Four-star Micah Matthews talks Maryland interest, official visits, timeline

Micah Matthews courtesy of @the.micahmatthews/IG

Turner Ashby (VA) four-star Micah Matthews thought his official visit schedule was already set, but after an injury cut his summer baseball plans short, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound athlete found an available weekend to venture out to one more school.

Enter Maryland.

After picking up an offer from Maryland back in late January, it was Matthews who worked to get an extended look at College Park. “I had a tournament that whole week in Atlanta but since I’m not going to be there, I reached out and was able to get that one locked in,” he added.

Former assistant Gunter Brewer initially led efforts for Maryland, but it’s been safeties coach Zac Spavital picking up the pieces since to get the Terps back in the mix. “It just started picking up. One of the recruiting ladies has been texting me keeping me updated and telling me the details of the upcoming visit. I’ve been talking to coach [Zac Spavital] a bit. He’s been calling, texting my parents so I think the connection has grown and grown every day so that’s a big piece.”

Matthews is no stranger to Maryland having visited for the Penn State game last fall, but having family nearby has made the environment plenty familiar for the Virginia four-star.

“My dad was born and raised in DC and Maryland was one of his dream schools growing up. We went to a game last year when they played Penn State at home and it was a really cool environment. Maryland, DC is like a second home to me. I have family in Upper Marlboro so that’s not too far from the stadium and all that. It’s just a feel good place.”

One aspect left to iron out in the Terps’ pursuit is how the four-star fits into Maryland’s plans for the 2025 cycle. “I’m assuming wide receiver. We haven’t touched base on that yet. The person I was talking to, Gunter Brewer, he was recruiting me as a wide receiver but now he’s at Virginia Tech so I’m assuming that’s the position I’ll be recruited as and they want me as. To me, it isn’t as big of a deal. It is somewhat, but I just like making plays on the field whether it’s offense or defense. I’m intrigued. I’m sure that question will be answered when I’m up there.”

Of course, football isn’t the only component to Matthews’ recruitment as the four-star prospect also enters the summer as the nation’s 56^th-best baseball prospect in the 2025 class. The chance to play both sports is an aspect Matthews has already addressed with his top suitors.

“All the schools I’ve been talking to have given me the green light. It does help that both sports are at different times of the school year — fall and spring. I feel like it’d get pretty dicey if I played basketball with the winter taken up. It can get a little twisted with spring ball going on, but I think a big thing in the process is communicating that and figuring out how the schedule will go, figure out time.”

As Maryland works to become a more prominent player in his recruitment, head coach Matt Swope connected with Matthews this week. “I actually talked to him [Wednesday] so we had a super good conversation, he’s excited to have me up.”

As for his full visit schedule, Matthews will hit the road next weekend for an official to BYU beginning on May 27 before turning around to visit Utah. The four-star will then head to Virginia Tech and North Carolina before returning to College Park for what could be his last visit. There’s a chance he takes additional unofficial visits, including to nearby Virginia which hosted him for an official in late April.

“I think Virginia is a school I could go back to especially since it’s so close and baseball is still going. I think they’ll probably be hosting as well since they’re a high seed in the ACC.”

Matthews explains what he’s looking for on his upcoming visits.

“Honestly just connecting with the coaches, players is the biggest thing not just for me but for my family as well. Seeing what the connection is like between the players and coaches and getting on campus, exploring things. And then the academics is a pretty big piece of this whole process so that’ll be something I’m really interested in and intrigued in while I’m there.”

The four-star sheds light on his commitment timeframe.

“I’m hoping to have my mind made up sometime in the fall. I feel like this decision has gotten so much harder since I first really started. Some people stepped in the conversation that I didn’t expect to so I think this might be a fall decision at the earliest, winter at the latest.”

Micah Matthews is rated a four-star prospect and a 90 overall by On3, checking in as the nation’s 299^th-best prospect and the ninth-best prospect in Virginia.