Oregon WR lands first offer

Beaverton (Calif.) Southridge wide out Mitch Mathews was one of the standouts at the recent NIKE Camp in Oregon. Following the camp, the athlete took in a team camp at UNLV and earned his first scholarship of the year.

Mathews, 6-5, 185 pounds is a talented pass catcher with a lot of tools. He has great size, catches everything with his hands and uses his body well to overpower smaller defensive backs.

As a junior, Mathews caught 42 balls for 543 yards and six touchdowns to earn all-league honors. His older brother Mitch plays at BYU and the younger Mathews is a definite Div I prospect as well.

"I just got my first offer from UNLV," Mathews said. "I camped with them on Monday and it went very well. I had an opportunity to practice with coach Cinkovich, the WR coach and Coach Berry the Offensive Coordinator, and to throw routes with them just one on one which went great.

"I also watched film with Coach Berry and Coach Cinkovich and we talked about the camp and how I did and what was to come for me in recruiting in the near future. They said that they were very interested in me and they told me to call them the next day at noon. When I did, they offered me a scholarship to play football for them.

"Getting this first offer is a huge relief, and a lot of pressure off of me. I've always liked UNLV a lot and they have always been at the top of my interest list but as of today, I'm looking at them even closer than before.

"I had met Coach Cinkovich before back in March for the Badger 7 on 7 tournament and have always thought that he was a great guy who definitely knows his stuff and what he's talking about after hearing him go over film with me.

"I got the chance to also meet the Offensive Coordinator, Coach Berry who also knows what he is doing very well, and I know these coaches are making this program better every day. I couldn't have liked their coaches more, and the things that they taught, they just made me really like the place and UNLV as a whole while I was down there."

In addition to UNLV, Mathews is also interested in Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State and BYU.