Matthews Ready To Bring Speed To Western Michigan

HARPER WOODS - His skills on the basepaths set Marwynn Matthews Jr. apart from most other baseball players.

It is one of the biggest things that attracted Western Michigan to the Detroit Edison Academy High School junior.

“They really love my speed,” the sixth-rated 2024 shortstop in the state said about the coaches with the Mid-American Conference program where he recently made a commitment. “I ran a 6.38 when I was there. When I get on base, it’s hard to keep me from stealing. I feel good when I’m on the basepaths.

“They also like that I’m a good all-around player and have a good personality,” Matthews added.

The connection between Matthews and Western Michigan took off this fall.

“It started when my travel coach talked to their assistant coach and I went to a camp there,” Matthews reflected. “They liked pretty much all the things that I did. The coaches asked me to come on a visit after that and I went the following week. It felt like home. I liked the atmosphere of the baseball team and I liked the campus. At the end of the day I got in the coach’s office and they offered me.”

Georgetown had also given the 32nd-ranked junior in Michigan an offer, with Penn State, Miami, Notre Dame and Youngstown State other schools that were being considered by Matthews, whose interest in playing college baseball heated up just a few years back.

“When I was 14 I saw guys like Jarren Purify (the top-rated 2023 in Michigan) getting offers,” Matthews related. “When I saw that I knew I had to buckle down because I knew I could be really good at this. I had to work hard and I put countless hours in the gym.”

By summer it was all paying off.

“A couple of months before the Future Games it started to become realistic,” Matthews noted. “Coaches were getting serious with me. After that the Future Games really helped me with getting in front of a lot of scouts. Schools like Georgetown and USC were talking to my travel coach.

“What also helped me was getting out to camps. My recruitment was very hard. I went to Georgetown and they offered two months later, but there were really a lot of ups and downs in recruiting. Some days it would feel like I wasn’t going to go D-I and then the next day it’d feel like I’d go D-I.”

The 5-10 145-pounder is confident about what he can provide the program located in Kalamazoo, two hours from his home in Harper Woods.

“I’ll bring them a great defensive player who has speed on the basepaths and will help us win ball games,” Matthews said.

There is no doubt in the mind of Matthews where he fits in.

“They want me to come in as a freshman and start at shortstop,” Matthews pointed out.

Help in getting to where he is came from a number of people.

“It started with my father, spending all that money on camps, the Future Games and driving me all around the world to get in front of college coaches,” Matthews explained. “There were also friends that helped by telling me about places. My summer coach Christian Penn and Robb Thompson, who coached me from 11U to 15U, also helped me out telling me where to go and not to go.”

Matthews, who carries a 4.0 GPA at Edison, is excited to be committed and have a future ahead at Western Michigan where he plans to major in computer science.

“It’s pretty relieving to finally find a place I can call home for the next four years,” Matthews said. “Now I just have to start working harder so I can start my freshman year.”

That is just part of what the 17-year-old is looking forward to when it comes to college and playing baseball at the next level.

“Winning ball games, getting the experience of college baseball, the workouts in the mornings and practicing,” Matthews said in listing off what he is awaiting the most when it comes to his days ahead at Western Michigan. “Really, the athletic lifestyle is what I’m preparing for and I can’t wait to begin.”