I'm thrilled to announce my commitment to Virginia Tech, where I'll be playing both baseball and football! This journey has been incredible, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to represent my home state. Looking forward to what the future holds. Go Hokies! 🦃⚾🏈 #GoHokies pic.twitter.com/ut9VukxEQq— Micah Matthews (@micahmatthews22) July 10, 2024
Yet another Top 10 player in the state for Pry, grabs him over UNC, UVa and Utah
Also provides a big boost to the baseball program.
Boom!
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HOKIES!
Glad to have Mr. Matthew's in the boat!
EDIT: Quick review...
Really glad Micah picked the Hokies over a couple of local/regional "rivals". I've been a little bearish on him, so I really dug into his film to see if I might be missing anything. All the ranking services have him ranked high, so I wanted to try and see what they were seeing.
1. Micah plays in what is a really down/weak Valley District, so it's a little difficult to get a read on exactly how physical and athletic he is. With that being said, he's a very good two sport athlete (top 50 baseball player) with some really good numbers. His camp numbers also show some good signs as it relates to his measurables.
2. There isn't a whole lot of film showing much in the way of physicality (blocking, breaking tackles, etc.), but that is largely due to the fact that he's simply finding his spot and outrunning everyone. In that respect, he reminds me quite a bit of Cole Beck. Micah isn't super shifty, but he's very fluid. His change of direction doesn't appear to be elite, but again, he's very smooth with very little wasted movement. He's a polished athlete even if he needs a little growth at the WR position for the next level (this is not out of the ordinary).
3. Micah does a good job of locating and high pointing the football. He has good hands and a solid catch radius.
4. Micah has a really good frame that could carry a bit more weight (he's listed 6'-1" to 6'-3" and 200-215lbs) without losing much in the way of speed. At least is appears that way.
All in all, a great win for Pry and Co. here in the Commonwealth of Va. Micah should find a place to flourish in the system as a playmaker of some sort. Again, he does give me some Cole Beck vibes as it relates to his movement on the field. Cole was an elite athlete who simply couldn't play football at the collegiate level. Even though Micah as some similar on-field vibes, I do think he stands a chance at being a healthy contributor for the Hokies.
Also nice to see someone from my neck of the woods be so highly touted
Right!!? I grew up in northern Rockingham County, so I love to see these kids come to Blacksburg.
You a Trailblazer or Eagle?
Edit: Or Gobbler as I would say Broadway is north rock as well
More north. More west. Gobbler. You?
I was a Bulldog but my kids are Panthers
This is jumping in a time machine... but when I played high school baseball in the late 2000s Turner Ashby was one of the teams we played that was always stacked with good players.
now do baseball!
Boom!
Big time commit. uva thought they were in the final two. Cute.
Huge recruiting win here. I'm excited to see his career at Tech and beyond.
Now we are talking! Filling up that deep WR room!
It'll be four-deep in 4-star rated talent next year. Plus four more that were just under 4-star rated talent.
2023:
Fitzgerald (247/Rivals)
Jennings (On3)
Lane (On3)
2024:
Adams (On3/ESPN/Rivals)
Wiggins (ESPN/Rivals)
2025:
Matthews (On3/247/Rivals)
Outten (247/ESPN)
I do love those Hokie Stone unis....
So also worth mentioning, he's the 40th ranked MLB prospect as well. Could be a bigger get for the baseball program than football, to be honest.
Bridgewater loves their baseball and I'm surprised there aren't more D1 players from there based on the success of their little league and travel teams
https://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=671341
A couple things that immediately jump out from these:
1) He's gonna have a hard time going opposite field
2) He's FAST - like 99th percentile level. Even more impressive when you see he's listed at 6'3" and 220lbs
3) His arm strength might need some improvement for the OF.
4) Relates to #2 above, but his first step looks to be way above average, which should translate nicely on the football field.
Quite frankly, if he has legitimate MLB potential, it's in his best interests to focus primarily on baseball and treat football as the side hustle.
Earnings potential in MLB is ridiculous, and you don't get nearly as much wear and tear on your body, and aren't likely to get the CTE issues you would from football.
Are we allowed to have this many 4*'s? Can I.... can I feel good about Tech football again??
The answer to both of your questions is:
Well, if we want a shot at a natty, the general thinking is we need 50% blue chips. Soooo... we can't have too many.
That's the way to hit it out of the ballpark! VT's own Bo Jackson of football and baseball coming up!
Micah knows.
I cant help but think, with all this WR talent, that this was the plan that Fuente said he wanted, 12 guys who could go out there and do it. Never materialized, but really glad to see Pry, a defensive guy, getting it done! Super excited about our future!!
Instead we had Kaleb smith and the men in tights
Good interview here. One major nugget is that he is enrolling early and immediately will be playing baseball, skipping his HS senior season. I don't follow baseball recruiting enough to know if this is common for such highly rated recruits, but I doubt it if they want to consider their MLB draft offer. It does mean he'll be playing the next baseball season and also participating in Spring football practice in some form.
Unrelated to the video, but MLB draft rules allow HS players to be drafted if they don't go to college, or if they do go to college, they must complete their JR year of college or have turned 21 years old. He will turn 21 on July 5 2027, which means he'll be eligible for the MLB draft in July 2027 (this year it's July 14). So, he could be a 2-season football player (2025 and 2026) if he decides to enter the MLB draft at his first opportunity.
And he is reported to be VT's highest baseball recruit ever. If he wasn't enrolling early, he would definitely be drafted in the 2025 MLB draft and would have to choose going straight to MiLB or stay committed to his LOI with VT (assuming he doesnt flip and stays with VT). But because he is enrolling early, he won't be available for the 2025 MLB draft so his first opportunity will be the 2027 MLB draft.
And it's further notable that his NIL payment should be pretty high. If he went straight to MLB draft, he would likely be a 3rd to 6th Rd pick, which gets a bonus of a out 375K to about 700K. His MiLB salary would be a measly 20K to 30K a year. For NIL, he should be paid as an elite baseball player plus high-end football player. And he chose to go to Hokies instead of taking 400K to 750K over 2 years. Makes me wonder how much of that would be factored into his NIL valuation by Triumph.
All this to say that this is by far the most interesting recruiting scenario I've seen for a VT football recruit. Very glad he is a Hokie. And a lot of things had be aligned behind the scenes to make this happen.
Is Kolby Crawford the inspiration for this?
i started watching this series but only got a few episodes in. I'll need to make some time, it's pretty funny.
It's amazing by the end of it. I recommend watching with closed captioning if you find yourself missing bits of fast dialogue, especially in Season 1.
Lucky for us, football and getting his education were most important to him (and his family). If baseball was his priority, he would have gone in the draft or to his other finalist, unc.
Maybe. I don't know about his degree desires or his family. It sounds like you at least have a source or read about them. But, MLB teams can often get players on their team regardless of their degree desires. It is interesting that MLB does have the lowest college degree players of all the major sports.
It is clear that baseball is still a priority, or else he would not even be pursuing at the collegiate level. And he's enrolling early to play on the baseball team. It will be interesting to see how all that plays out. And as good as UNC is at baseball, VT is right up there with them in recent years. (VT won the coastal in 2022, tied with UNC in the standings 2023, and UNC won the coastal in 2024). And VT and Coach Szefc are really good at developing position players. It's no slam dunk that a baseball recruit, especially a position player, would choose UNC over VT.
And we don't know how much the school priorities will matter if he's drafted by an MLB team. One interesting aspect about the MLB draft is that it the player does not have to declare to be in the draft and if they don't sign, they can return to college. If Mathews is truly an MLB-level talent, he'll very likely get drafted the summer of 2027. And while MLB teams always vet for whether the player will sign, they are often very convincing and can strategically overpay slot to get the player. Mathews would be in an easier spot to decline signing an MLB contract if: (1) he is a legit NFL-talent and (2) has a sizeable NIL deal that offsets the MLB bonus money.
But critically, if he does in fact maintain his 2-sport status, at the time he would be drafted in 2027, there will be 3 collegiate seasons of baseball and 2 seasons of football. He'll be an everyday player in baseball from day 1 to showcase his talent at the ACC level. He'll also be in a stacked WR room fighting to get plays from other 4-star talent, and unless he outshines them all, he very well could be buried a bit.
That's all to say, if he does well in baseball in the ACC and projects to do well in the MLB, he will be drafted in 2027 and then it's up to him whether or not he takes the baseball contract or return to VT.
It's not that interesting if only looking at US leagues. MLS is the only other league that doesn't require any sort of waiting period after high school (or 18 years old). MLB just has larger rosters compared to MLS. I wonder if MLS has the lowest percentage of college degree players though with internationals and now more academy players moving up through the ranks.
I find it's interesting that it's less than 5% graduate college despite 40-50% of players attending college. And most college-attending MLB players spend 3 years in college but do not try to complete their degree in 3 years of college or finish the one or two semesters they have left during their MLB career.
I was always told if you were a legitimate MLB prospect early on it was better to go to single A ball right after high school rather than going to college. It was because they did not want you to get used to hitting metal bats.
The fact you have a huge minor league really means you don't need to go to college to get to the big leagues. If you are good enough you will get drafted out of high school in the later rounds and be playing pro ball in single A the next year.
Things have changed now. Sign with a triple A affiliate after high school: get 100K signing bonus, travel on busses, earn 85K per year, share hotel rooms. Contrast that with signing with Tennessee or LSU baseball- name your signing bonus, 500K per in NIL (or more) travel chartered flights, little pretense of being a real student, transfer out if you don't like it. Because Go Vols.
That's definitely not the standard anymore. It used to be that way, but many HS players want to play collegiate ball for several reasons. Dylan Crews is a good example of player expected to go in the first round as HS player but decided to go play for LSU. He was then selected 2nd overall in last years draft. He's a bit of an exception, because he was a 1st round HS recruit. It is still the expectation if you're 3rd round or better recruit, you go MLB. But if you're HS recruit selected in a lower round, there's a lot more nuance to it. College could be a better route, or at least worth strong consideration.
With the way draft slots are now with an allocated bonus amount, HS baseball players can end up making more money via college and higher draft pick after 3 years. This especially true now with NIL. MiLB salaries are a measly $20k in rookie league to $40K in AAA. More years of MiLB experience will yield higher salary, but it isn't significantly more. And if attending a top school for baseball, NIL can often be more than MiLB salary. The bonus amount, however, is the major consideration. For a HS player, it's a question of whether to take the money now or gamble on making more money in 3 years. For example, Crews probably got $3-10M more money by going to college. As a HS recruit, he "withdrew" his name from the draft, but he was ranked to be a top 15 draft pick and ended up 2nd overall coming out of college.
With the injuries to pitchers and history of failed outcomes, it is now unpopular for MLB teams to draft HS pitchers. So, HS pitchers have much less value than collegiate pitchers, resulting in many attending college without much choice. If a HS pitcher is drafted, it's now a gamble of whether to take the bonus of the lower-valued draft slot or take your chances in college and improve your bonus.
You can choose your college. You don't choose your MLB team. It is better to go to LSU than to be in the Chicago White Sox's system. Notably, draftee can have a strong influence on whether a team will draft them, telling them whether they'll sign for that team and their asking price. Many HS players will give teams like the Dodgers a discount because of their developmental program. But even then, they have no control and can be traded to a bad developmental program.
The time to the majors is about the same whether you go to college or drafted out of HS. There is a slight edge for HS-drafted players, but it's less than a year. And if collegiate NIL is good, may be better financially.
Just look at the draft right now. Several top 250 ranked HS kids haven't been drafted, with 350 picks completed. See: https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/2024/undrafted
While some may be over-ranked, most are not drafted because they have told all MLB teams that they plan to stick with their college commitment. And a good chunk of the drafted players will not sign.
Thanks, I guess I was going off of outdated thinking.
Oh boy, is this great!!!
Fontel Mines is a legend in the making
Welcome home, Micah!
Fontel is proof that sometimes your best leaders are those who have intimate knowledge about how awful things are elsewhere.
Ha, ha, ha! I love it. Hey, you learn best from making your own mistakes, right?
Anyone else see the chatter that Colandrea was in the chat of the live stream hyping up UVA football? lolllllllllllll
That guy is something else.
Question for anyone who might know. Does this scholarship count against football or baseball, or is there a choice? Just curious how that works since he appears to be worth a scholarship for both teams.
Always counts against football- else Bama would give 85 track scholarships and cheat. oh, everyone pays players now in the open anyway, so who cares.
The last I heard was that if someone was playing football and doing anything else, it counted against football.
I'm sure they weren't the only ones to do this, but when Miami was on probation back in the day, they put a number of football players on track scholarships to get around their reduction in FB 'ships.
Edit: I'm too slow...
Headcount sports take precedence, which are football and basketball for men and basketball, tennis, volleyball and gymnastics for women. I don't know how it works other than football>basketball> rest, but fir women I don't know if it's a certain order.
In addition, baseball normally doesn't hand out full rides, only head count sports do that.
I will choose to be excited about this news.
Big win