Jackie Matthews is a Champion, an All-American and soon, a Mountaineer

WVU cornerback commit Jackie Matthews has had a whirlwind last couple of weeks.

On Nov. 24 he committed to WVU, on Dec. 5 he recorded the game-ending interception in the Junior College National Championship and on Dec. 10 he was named a first-team All-American. And now next Wednesday, Dec. 18, Matthews will officially sign with the Mountaineers. He said he could not be more excited.

“I’m very excited,” Matthews told WVSN. “I’m just ready to showcase my ability and get down there and get to know everybody, get familiar with the town and get out there and play, and hopefully win a championship for West Virginia.”

Grind Turn Into Shine And I'm Showing What Grinding Do !!!! ⛰ #COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/Tqtud8CDkl

— Jackie Matthews (@JackieMatthews_) November 25, 2019

Winning the National Championship was just the tip of the iceberg of the season that Matthews has at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC). Matthews led the team with six interceptions, he forced two fumbles and racked up 52 tackles.

Matthews received a lot of hardware with those stats. Other than being named first-team All-America, he was also named first-team all-division and the Most Valuable Defensive Back in his division.

Matthews said his teammates and coaches deserve the credit for his accomplishments.

“Coming into JUCO, one of my goals was to be an All-American,” Matthews said. “It just shows all the hard work and that my coaches and my teammates were pushing me every day. I really want to thank them for it, I’ve been saying this ever since I got All-American, but they’re really the reason I got this award.”

FOOTBALL | Two @MGCCC_FOOTBALL stars are @NJCAAFootball All-Americans! Congrats to @JackieMatthews_ and @CLovertich10! pic.twitter.com/R3aM0omFui

— MGCCC Athletics (@MGCCCBulldogs) December 10, 2019

“Some groups they come in, just want to get offers and get out,” Matthews said about JUCO. “But us, we were different, we wanted to come in and get a national championship and go division one and get out of the school. I’m just excited that we were able to win a championship.

“As you can see on the video, I was really emotional after that interception because I work hard for this. For me to get the interception to close out the national championship, it was amazing…It’s an unbelievable feeling to know my last play was that interception. I’m going to try and bring the same thing to West Virginia, big-time plays. I’m going to try and bring the same energy, the same drive to West Virginia.”

Game sealing Interception thank you God 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 National Champs 💙 pic.twitter.com/lk8K8nzR89

— Jackie Matthews (@JackieMatthews_) December 6, 2019

Matthews said he plans to enroll early at WVU, coming to campus in January. A Birmingham, Alabama native, Matthews said some of WVU’s coaching staff being from Troy made it feel more like home when he made his official visit to campus. He said when he met WVU defensive backs coach Jahmile Addae, the decision to come to WVU was easy.

“Coach Addae and the relationship I had with him, he made the decision really easy for me,” Matthews said. “It was just a great situation for me coming out of JUCO.”

With seniors Keith Washinton II, Hakeem Bailey and Josh Norwood graduating, Matthews will be one of the older defensive backs on the team next year.

“I think I can learn from them because they’ve been in a great conference and they can learn from me because I’m an older guy,” Matthews said of the younger defensive backs on the team.

Matthews is one of four defensive backs verbally committed in WVU’s 2020 recruiting class. Matthews, Daryl Porter Jr., David Vincent Okoli and Jairo Faverus are all expected to sign with WVU next Wednesday.