Auburn Lands Commitment from 4-Star WR

The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Leakesville, Miss., hauled in 68 passes for 1,138 yards and 15 touchdowns during his junior season, per 247Sports’ player profile. Mathews also plays basketball and is on the track and field team for Green County High School (MS), where he ran a 23.70 in the 200m and long jumped 20-6 as a sophomore, according MileSplit.

Auburn made a relatively late push for Mathews, as the Tigers looked to have fallen behind the earlier stages of his recruitment.

Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and LSU all seemed to be leading at one point, but the Tigers emerged as the favorite down the stretch. Auburn received multiple crystal balls to land Mathews, including Auburn insider Jeffrey Lee of Rivals and 247Sports’ Christian Clemente. Lee logged his prediction with a 55 percent confidence level, saying the Tigers could be “the team to best” in the final two weeks leading up to Mathews’ decision.

Mathews took his official visit to Auburn on June 6 before heading to Texas A&M on June 13 and LSU on June 20. Ole Miss hosted him on May 30, but the Rebels look to be falling behind in his recruitment.

Auburn also hosted Mathews last November for an unofficial visit, where the four-star witnessed the Tigers’ 48-14 win over UL-Monroe, according to On3’s visit center.

A large reason why Mathews chose the Tigers could be credited to his many strong connections with Auburn’s coaching staff.

Following his official visit to Auburn, Mathews expressed his close relationship with Auburn wide receivers coach Marcus Davis and the impact Davis has on him.

“He’s my guy,” Mathews told On3. “Me and Coach Davis stay in touch. We talk at least twice a week. He’s a young coach and we have built a good connection. It just gets stronger day by day.”

“He showed me things I can do to get better,” Mathews added. “He also gave me some life tips outside of football and is telling me I’m a priority.”

Mathews also holds great bonds with head coach Hugh Freeze, director of recruiting research and strategy Kenyatta Watson, and freshman quarterback Deuce Knight, a fellow Mississippi native, which most likely played an important factor in his decision.

Mathews could be the most important and influential player in Auburn’s class and currently stands as the Tigers’ highest-rated 2026 pledge, per On3, surpassing recent edge rusher commit Jaquez Wilkes.

Considering Auburn’s retention of the roster this offseason, especially at the wide receiver position, Freeze and company will most likely bring in a smaller class than the 2024 and 2025 cycles. Thus, they had the financial commitment in order to truly compete for Mathews, which ultimately seems to have paid off.

Mathews is the lone wideout in the class after four-star Devin Carter and three-star Denairius Gray flipped away from Auburn this summer.

Auburn ranked No. 70 in 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings before securing Mathews, and Freeze and company look to continue building on its 12 commits with multiple other top targets set to announce their decision in the near future.

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