Top DE opens up recruitment
Joe Mathis committed to Washington in late October but after the Huskies underwent some coaching changes recently the 2013 defensive end from Upland, Calif., has decided to open things up again.
Mathis, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound prospect, said in mid-December that he was going to look around even more because assistant coach Demetrice Martin left Washington for UCLA and now the junior standout is not committed at all any longer.
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The 2013 prospect plans to take things much slower in his recruitment.
"I just de-committed from Washington," Mathis said.
"My parents wanted me to de-commit because some coaches aren't there anymore. They wanted me to open up my process. .. I'm taking it real slow. I'm just going to take it real slow now."
What makes Mathis' recruitment even more interesting is that UCLA just offered him and the Bruins will definitely be taken seriously moving forward.
Martin is now on first-year coach Jim Mora's staff and Mathis has some other connections to UCLA that makes it a viable contender in his recruitment. The Bruins are definitely a player.
"It's really big," Mathis said of his UCLA offer. "All of my options are still open. My dad went to UCLA so it's going to be really cool. I'm going to really think about going to UCLA.
"They've been showing interest, they sent me letters before (Martin) got there, but once he got there he came after me. I've been talking to him and then the coach wanted me to call him and I called him and they offered me."
In his junior season, Mathis, who also has an offer from Indiana, finished with 79 tackles and six sacks. Upland finished 12-1.