Matthew Alexander excited about future with UCF

UCF made a big defensive addition to their recruiting class on Wednesday.

Matthew Alexander, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound defensive lineman from Buford, Ga., committed to the Knights over a final seven of West Virginia, Missouri, Tulane, South Florida, Iowa State and Memphis.

"I chose UCF because of the coaches," Alexander said. "I had a great relationship with everybody there. I would have liked to visit, but I did a virtual visit recently and got to see the campus that way. The football program has had a lot of success too. I liked everything about it."

Alexander's primary recruiter was secondary coach Corey Bell, but he also had extensive conversations with defensive line coach Shane Burnham as well as head coach Josh Heupel through the process.

"They were pushing hard, saying how much of a priority I was for them," Alexander said. "They're only taking one d-tackle, so it's a really good opportunity for me. They're saying I should have the ability to play early on."

While defensive tackle is where he's being recruited, coaches are talking about the possibility of Alexander being versatile within the line.

"They said I could maybe play d-end," Alexander said. "We'll see how that works. They like how I'm a big guy that can run and move. I'll fit in well with their defense."

Alexander tweeted a top seven in early June, but over the last week or so had been deliberating between three schools: UCF, West Virginia and Missouri. He decided on UCF a few days ago and gave an indication to the staff, so they knew it was coming.

"They had known for a while that I was leaning towards them anyway," Alexander said. "I called Coach Heup to make it official though. He was excited."

Alexander, who has been playing since he was eight years old, says his favorite football player of all-time may be the sports greatest defensive player: Lawrence Taylor.

He initially was aiming to be a December graduate so he could enroll next January, but due to the pandemic he isn't sure if he'll do that now.

"I'm very excited to be committed to UCF and have this decision done," Alexander said. "My family is also excited about UCF because it's closer to home. I can't wait to get there and have a great career."

Alexander's pledge gives UCF 11 commits in the 2021 class.