Committing to a school because of a strong sense of family is a popular reason for a high school player to pledge to the college of his choice. But for 2025 offensive lineman Matai Jefferson, it’s an aspect that goes much deeper than others. For the second year in a row, ASU has landed an offensive lineman from St. John Bosco High School, one of the powerhouse programs in the state of California. The commitment of Sean Na’a, who played in nine games as a freshman, undoubtedly had a strong effect on his former high school teammate’s Christmas day decision, marking the Sun Devils’ fourth commitment in the 2025 class.

“The holidays really hit differently for me because of my family,” Jefferson explained. My grandparents are getting old, and I want them to cherish the moment of seeing their grandson commit to a school. Arizona State treated me like a family ever since I received the offer from them. I had endless talks with Coach T (Saga Tuitele), even Coach Dillingham, and especially the recruiting staff and their head recruiter, Coach Devontay (Love-Taylor), checking on me on how I am doing on and off the field.

“Sean told me that this team is more of a brotherhood. I feel like every program preaches about brotherhood, but I can actually see it there, and I feel comfortable playing alongside a person I’ve got to play with in high school. That’s what really encouraged me to want to commit there.

Jefferson was a starter on a Braves squad that finished 11-2 last season, ranked No. 2 in the state of California and No. 6 nationally. His high school coaches said that he may have a chance to play both guard and tackle, but in Tempe, he's projected to play in the interior of the offensive line.

“Coach T likes my aggression, my great footwork, and playing with a passion,” Jefferson commented. “He says I’m like a young Sean Na’a. I feel like my senior year is really gonna show the growth from my junior year. I’m hitting the weights even harder than I was before and working on my agility because that is what people told me I should work on, and that’s my main focus. Coach T said that I have to bump it (agility) up a notch just to be able to come in and play. I want to get down to 305 lbs. and get my body toned up.

“I visited them when they played USC, and even though they didn’t do as well as what I expected, I just saw that there was gonna be growth in that system. I had a foundation there with Sean Na’a going there and seeing him play as a freshman really encouraged me to jump on board. Coach T told me that if I come in and do what I got to do, I would have a chance at playing on Saturdays.”

Jefferson had offers from Texas, Cal, and UNLV and stated that aside from those programs, UCLA was also pursuing him, as well as Texas A&M, which is the only other school aside from ASU that he had visited. The connection that he has built with the ASU staff and the fact that the Sun Devils landed seven players of Polynesian descent in the 2024 recruiting cycle was elements that only enhanced the affinity that he had built up for the program.

“I didn’t visit a lot of schools because of the busy schedule we had,” Jefferson said. “But it really caught my eye that ASU pushed me to take that visit. All the love I got from the staff in general was cool, especially from Coach Dillingham. I know he’s a young coach, and this was his first year there at ASU. But you can already see the difference in the program. Every loss they had was a lesson that helped that growth. You saw that (15-7) loss against Washington and how if they won that game, it would change up the whole college football playoff (picture).

“I’m half black and half Samoan. I love that Poly pipeline, and Coach T has been preaching that to me and told me that he’s trying to start something here to make a home for all these Poly kids to be able to come to Arizona State. He sees all the different programs and how their approach towards us is different. I’m from Southern California, and I saw USC got only a couple of Poly kids, and when I went to camps, a lot of colleges were not even looking at us.”

Jefferson is the second prospect from the state of California to commit to ASU in the 2025 class, following quarterback Michael Tollefson from JSerra High School. He is also the second 2025 offensive lineman to commit to the school following Chandler (Ariz.) Hamilton’s Toby Mealer.

Jefferson is on track to graduate high school in December of 2024 and enroll in Tempe in Spring 2025.

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