Barnes Gives UL Verbal Pledge

Groesbeck Tx high all-state athlete Matthew Barnes (6'3,227) is the latest prep athlete to give the Ragin' Cajuns football program a commitment. Barnes announced his live decision Thursdy night on Cajun Redzone Radio.

Coach Hudspeth and his staff are making a habit of reaching out to sleeper athletes that have had huge senior seasons. This time, it was Coach Reed Stringer's recruiting efforts that paid off in securing the commitment of Texas 3A All-State TE Matthew Barnes (6'3,227, 4.5) out of Groesbeck, Texas.

Barnes was selected to the Texas Sports Writers Association Class 3A All-State football team. The big receiver for the Goats was chosen second team All-State as well as Academic All-State with a 3.7 GPA.

Barnes backed up his selection putting up big number his senior season, teaming up with quarterback Colt McCoy to grab 77 passes for 1176 yards and 18 touchdowns. He rushed 44 times for 258 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned one kickoff for a 82 yard touchdown. His junior year he played running back under a different coaching staff, rushing for 763 yards, scoring nine touchdowns, 500 yards receiving and scoring another five touchdowns. In his sophomore year, Barnes had 43 catches for 543 yards and five touchdowns, another 500 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns on the ground. In his entire prep career, Barnes has scored 55 touchdowns.

Thursday night, Matthew Barnes discussed his commitment to UL on the Cajun Redzone Radio show.

"Coach Stringer told me I could be another Ladarius Green if I played in their offensive system," Barnes noted. "When I visited this past weekend I had to the opportunity to watch some of their 2012 season video and watch how they used the tighends. I also met Terrance Broadway and he is really a humble guy and great quarterback. I really like the facilities and the staff and realized that this is the type of system that I want to play in college footbal."

Barnes admitted that he attended a number of college football camps last summer in the hope of drawing the attention of some BCS programs.

"My mother reminds me of how much money they spent of football camps last summer, but it helped me get ready for my senior season," Matthew said. "I went to camps at Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas to compete against the best. I was a little disappointed it didn't work out with those schools, but going to play in an exciting program."

After receiving offers from Air Force, New Mexico, utsa and UL, Barnes is motivated by the lack of interest from BCS programs.

"There is no doubt I'm motivated by their lack of interest," Barnes stated. "It really came down to the offenses of New Mexico and ULL, when I made my decision. But everytime I step on the football field, I'm going to be motivated to prove some of those people wrong."

Follow us for the most up-to-date UL Football recruiting news here: http://louisiana.scout.com/