LSU Football Impressed With 2022 Recruit Matthew James' Football IQ, Playmaking Ability

James talks about LSU offer and what improvements the Tigers are hoping to see in junior season

Anwaar and his son Matthew James have a special bond with football. Since Matthew started playing football at age six, he can't recall his father ever missing one of his games. 

The two have trained for years in the hopes of getting to the point where major Division I programs are showing in interest in Matthew. That hard work is now starting to pay huge dividends for the Boca Raton native.

LSU offered James just a few short months ago on April 3, setting off a long line of offers from schools such as Penn State, Kentucky, West Virginia, UCF, Duke and Georgia Tech. 

"They [LSU] said I was a very versatile player and that they wanted me to play defense," James said. "The team is obviously really good and they really just make me feel welcome."

Matthew's primary source of contact at LSU has been cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond. The Tigers vision for James, who’s currently classified as an athlete, is for him to play defense, either safety or corner. 

"Mainly what Corey spoke about was Matthew's strengths which are his football IQ and that he's a ball hunter," Anwaar said. "We're training about four times a week to expand on his footwork but what they're mainly looking for Matthew is to get faster."

James' main talent on defense is that football IQ like his father mentioned and being able to read different offenses. 

It's what helped him grab 11 interceptions at St. Andrew's School this past season and also earn him a spot on the local news. 

James fits the true definition of an athlete as he was named Palm Beach Player of the Week in 2019 for back-to-back performances.  The two games combined  saw him rack up 131 yards, two touchdowns and an interception one week followed by an outing that resulted in a passing touchdown, receiving touchdown and a fumble recovery that went for a score.

"That was a great experience, I was really excited about it and I went to the headquarters for the interview," James said. “It was a special moment for me.”

About four times a week, Matthew and Anwaar will train in the weight room. After the workout, Matthew will head to either the local field or the beach to work on speed and quickness in the sand. 

The tireless work he puts in is all in an effort to continue to hone his skills, which is mainly working on his footwork and man coverage. 

Those beach workouts are great for conditioning as well and usually consist of latter and cone drills. Through all of the drills and all of the hard work, Anwaar has been by his son's side every step of the way. 

In the last year alone, Anwaar believes Matthew has taken great strides in becoming the player he aspires to be.

"I'm really excited to see him play this year mainly because I just see how much he's improved from eighth grade to now," Anwaar said. "The one thing about Matthew that I've always known and that he knows to is that he has that high football IQ which makes him so much better."

The football IQ was something that Matthew said just came naturally to him from the time he started playing football at the age of six. That old cliche that football is 90% mental, 10% physical couldn't ring truer for the rising junior, who's just scratching the surface of his talents.

"I think just knowing where to be is so important, especially on defense," James said. "Reading the quarterback is something I've always just had a feel for and because I have that background as a receiver, knowing how they think helps my defensive game a lot."