Matt Lee of grundy gets scholarship to UVA-Wise

[wisecav72 10]

Grundy's Matt Lee Accepts Scholarship Offer With University of Virginia's College at Wise

 

by Lloyd Combs

Sports Reporter

 

As a star player on some of Grundy’s finest football teams and a standout 215-pounder for its highly regarded wrestling program, Matt Lee has done its share of traveling.

But when it came time to choose a college, he found the perfect option close to home.

Lee, a two-time All-State guard for the Golden Wave, has accepted a scholarship offer to play college at football at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.

In addition to being an outstanding blocker, the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder was also a stellar linebacker at Grundy. He’ll get a look on both offense -- where he was named to the 2005 VHSCA All-Group AA squad for the second straight year -- and defense, under head coach Bruce Wasem at Wise.

“They recruited me for both offense and defense,†Lee said. “They said they want to see me on both sides of the ball and see what they think I’m better at.

“If it was my choice I’d like to go back to center, because the center is the guy who leads the way in the offensive line. I was raised as a center, that’s where I played in eighth grade and JV. But I like playing both offense and defense.â€ÂÂ

Lee, who drew interest from a number of small colleges, liked the idea of playing for the NAIA school from the moment he visited the UVA-Wise campus.

“It feels like home,†Lee said. “I like the fact that’s it’s only an hour and ten minutes from home. I also like the people over there. The people there act like they care about you as a person.

“I love the field there. They’ve got great facilities, especially the weight room. I’ve traveled a lot and been in weight rooms all over the country and the weight room at Wise is excellent. It’s as good as the one at (Virginia) Tech.â€ÂÂ

Lee is proud to be the latest of a long line of outstanding linemen to come out of the Grundy football program. He’s especially proud to be related to one of them.

 

I wonder what kind of scholarship he got? Because they didnt even give me a dime to go up there and play, i wonder if its because 1/4 of the players at wise last year quit? i dont know? Hmmm.... interesting.

[Lance 228]

Well that's great! Congrat's to Matt and I wish him the best at the next level...always good to see a local SWD kid move on and continue to play the game.

[cityofRaven 2,453]

maybe i can catch up with him and drink a few

[wisecav72 10]

huh, where, over at wise?

[wisecav72 10]

and i hate to say it, but i can find several things wrong with the article in the mountaineer.

[cityofRaven 2,453]

yeah at wise...whats wrong in the mountineer

[Grundy10 10]

Only thing I see wrong with it is that he isnt 6'2....

[Lance 228]

...and he played line not linebacker (mostly)

[wisecav72 10]

1.like tigh said, hes not 6'2".

2. like lance said he didnt play linebacker.

3.“It feels like home,†Lee said. “I like the fact that’s it’s only an hour and ten minutes from home. I also like the people over there. The people there act like they care about you as a person. this is almost total bull. a few weeks after you get there, the people could care lees about you. i didnt get treated that well at wise by the staff. they just let me go on and not even give me any help about how to do things. I have to say, i dont think that the coaches over there have any friggin clue what theyre doin. but they do have great facilities. well thats all i can think of right now that's wrong. take it or leave, its up to you.

[wisecav72 10]

and how come i didnt see you at wise, we couldve drunk a case or two, lol.

[Mr_Primetime 10]

LMFAO funny stuff

[jmarcum 10]

Well I know the teachers and staff at Wise are top notch and have helped me out in many situations when family illness struck and I had problems getting to class but I have heard what cotton said a million times, that the coaches are a joke. Well I myself went to the coach there when i first arrived at wise. I was about 230 and had done nothing but lift for two years and was in the best shape of my life. I asked him if i could walk on, his reply, "we started practice last week". For Gods sake they were in tee shirt and shorts throwing the ball around on the astro turf and they sucked. I know I could have played from day 1. He said, "they had their own strength , and conditioning program and I missed it by a week". I told him I had lifted for two years solid and he said "sorry but we have to have you start lifting with us". So I told him, 'your loss', and left. I dont think they have wont but a game or two since I got there.

 

The previous coach before Wasem wasnt that bad from what I hear but Wasem who knows about him. Yeah cotton I wish you could have went to Cumberland because they really do care about you and would take care of you. Heck they live within a block from campus and told us "if you mess up we are here before campus police". YOu oversleep and miss practice, they run you. So yeah it seems like a better program.

 

So cotton you interested in going to Williamsburg, KY? lol

[cityofRaven 2,453]

i will be makin my alcholic butt down there this fall bro!! lol

[wisecav72 10]

yeah man, i wouldnt mind going to cumberland and playin over there, considerin they kicked wise's arse last year, but id be happy to play almost anywhere, still gotta pull me grades up a tad bit. yeah and wise has gone three straight years with only three wins like 3-8 every year. and cumberland is a great college.

[cityofRaven 2,453]

yeah i came down one year and cumberland was good then i think they got a pretty good tradition down there

[bulldogfan 10]

Wise is NAIA therefore they cannot give athletic scholarships.

[BigD4VT 11]

[ QUOTE ]

Wise is NAIA therefore they cannot give athletic scholarships.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

Sure they can.

[wisecav72 10]

yeah, wise can give scholarships, they gave a very sucky kicker a full ride. But wise does give scholarships. my roomate over there got one too.

[DMan 10]

Wise is NAIA Division II, they could classify for NCAA D-3, but they chose to join the NAIA so a few scholarships could be given out.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that NCAA D-3 doesn't give scholarships. However, NAIA does allow scholarships. Only a few are given at Wise though, most of the players' education is paid through financial aid (i.e. grants and loans).

 

And on a side note, I believe Cotton should have gotten a full ride without a doubt.

[jmarcum 10]

I will tell you what Cumberland did with Aaron. They get so much money for the program to administer in the form of scholarship money. So what they do to be fair to the players is split the money they have between the players. In their case it was amongst like 30 new players. SO if you came in after the money was gone you would have to wait and see if you started to get some help in the future. I think Aaron got around 4,000 bucks help so that was good and fair to all the kids I think. I would do it the same way. Not fair to give one kid a full ride and not the rest.

[wisecav72 10]

yeah, it is fair, but thats not the way wise does, it, the kicker i was talking about, got a full friggin ride,( and by the way, he couldnt hold dillon reece's jock strap) while i can think of about 19 new players( myself included) that didnt get a dime. financial aid covers most of it. for only one semester there, i had to take out a 3500 dollar loan, for one stinking smester. daggone finanicial aid. it aint worth a crap.

[jmarcum 10]

Ah I owe 20,000 and everyone that I know that is a teacher or coach now told me its no big deal, and that it wont be a big deal paying it back. 20,000 sounds like a lot to me but you gotta think most people pay that for a new vehicle and it can be totaled in a split second but that degree is always there and hopefully can help ya obtain a good job. I know one thing, My barber has told me you cant get a decent job at all without one, so its a must to have. lol.