USC wins major recruiting battle as four-star TE Walter Matthews commits

USC's first big recruiting weekend of June was already an incredible success, but the returns keep coming in for the Trojans.

Early Tuesday morning, four-star tight end Walter Matthews -- the No. 8-ranked TE in this 2024 recruiting class -- announced his Trojans commitment.

Matthews, from Hiram, Georgia, is the seventh prospect (out of 12) who took his official visit two weekends ago to announce his commitment.

He chose USC over Florida -- after visiting the Gators again this past weekend -- and other Southeast programs.

"The culture there, the way they interact with each other, it's like a real family -- not just a team," Matthews told Rivals after Trojans visit.

He also emphasized his conversations with coach Lincoln Riley "about the offense and history of using tight ends."

The 6-foot-7, 259-pound tight end is the 10th overall commitment for USC, which now sits No. 21 in the Rivals recruiting rankings.

There was buzz coming off Matthews' visit two weekends ago that USC had closed the gap with the Gators and given Matthews a lot to think about, and apparently his official visit to Florida last weekend wasn't enough to sway him. Matthews also cancelled a planned official visit to South Carolina to move up his commitment decision.

How Riley and the Trojans plan to utilize Matthews' skill set eventually helped set the program apart from his other options.

"Using me for mismatches," he said. "Basically, using me like he did Mark Andrews."

Riley and Co. have loaded up at tight end the last two recruiting cycles, signing five-star Duce Robinson, four-star Walker Lyons (who will join the program in 2024 after taking an LDS mission) and three-star Kade Eldridge in the 2023 recruiting class. Adding Matthews in 2024 furthers the strong foundation the Trojans are building at the position.