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http://www.tennessean.com/sports/ut/...nt_ID=62869334

Pennsylvania LB commits to Vols

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee's football team may have found its middle linebacker of the future with the verbal commitment of Andre Mathis of Erie, Pa.

The 6-foot-1, 224-pound Mathis announced yesterday that he would sign with the Vols during a news conference at his high school. He's rated by Rivals.com as the country's seventh-best inside linebacker prospect.

Also yesterday, a pair of Memphis products - athlete Todd Cox of Harding Academy and offensive lineman Malcolm Rawls of East High - committed to the Vols, who now have 14 commitments.

Coach Phillip Fulmer and running backs coach Trooper Taylor have been in Memphis the last two days visiting prospects.

The 6-2, 195-pound Cox projects as an outside linebacker in college. He’s rated by Rivals.com as the 14th best athlete in the country. The 6-4, 300-pound Rawls is rated by Rivals.com as the ninth best guard prospect in the country.

Mathis, who visited UT officially last weekend, had narrowed it down to Ohio State and Tennessee. Florida, Iowa and Michigan State also were heavily involved.

''It was really close,'' Mathis said. ''I liked Ohio State a lot. But after my trip down there, I just knew that Tennessee was the place for me. Everything about the school felt right. The players are close to each other. I really like the coaching staff, and they had what I was looking for academically.''

Mathis also hit it off with Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis during his visit.

''It's a good place for a linebacker to play,'' Mathis said. ''I know that just about everybody who has started at linebacker for them over the past few years has had a chance to play in the NFL. That's not the biggest reason I chose Tennessee, but it's attractive.''

http://www.goerie.com/

All-state linebacker picks Vols after visit

By ANTHONY CASTROVINCE
anthony.castrovince@timesnews.com

The orange won out.

In deciding where to launch his college football career, Cathedral Prep linebacker Andre Mathis had quite a few big-time programs to choose from. In the end, he decided to stay in the team color he's been wearing the past four years with the Ramblers.

Mathis announced Tuesday that he has made a verbal commitment to Tennessee. He will make the decision official on the national signing date of Feb. 2.

"They treated me right," Mathis said of the Volunteers. "They respected me, and I respect them. I felt comfortable with the school."

Mathis, 17, made official visits to Michigan State and Ohio State, and he was also considering Iowa and Florida. But when he visited Knoxville, Tenn., this past weekend, he made up his mind.

"The coaching staff was great, and the academics were what I expected," Mathis said. "The atmosphere was nice."

Mathis is planning on studying either business, engineering or architecture.

The Vols coaches told him they project him as a middle linebacker. He'll probably either redshirt or play on special teams his freshman year, though Mathis said he would prefer to take the redshirt.

Mathis, a second-team all-state selection in 2003, was the Ramblers' leading tackler the past two seasons, posting 88 tackles as a junior and 85 as a senior. He had 31 solo stops, 11/2 sacks and three fumble recoveries this past season, earning a spot on the Times-News District 10 first team.

Though Mathis was strongly considering Ohio State, his trip to Tennessee won him over. His coach at Prep, Mike Mischler, supported the decision.

"When you get this far in the process and you've been to as many schools as he's been to and you get as many calls as he did, it really comes down to a gut feeling," Mischler said. "You really have to have a fit and be comfortable there."

"He fit with their coaching staff, their players and the university has what he's looking for."

Of course, the chance to keep wearing orange didn't hurt. Did that factor play into Mathis' decision-making process?

"I guess so," Mathis said with a laugh.

Prep modeled their uniforms after those of the Vols, so Mathis should be comfortable in his new surroundings.

"The uniforms are the exact same style," Mischler said. "All you have to do is change that P over to a T. We're very proud of him at Cathedral Prep."