La Crosse Logan accepts scholarship from Gophers

This from the La Crosse Tribune

By KIRK BEY | kbey@lacrossetribune.com

So maybe it wasn’t as easy as Matt Eggen initially believed it would be. It doesn’t matter anymore.

Eggen was proud to say Thursday night he had verbally committed to play NCAA Division I football for the University of Minnesota. But the Logan High School offensive tackle could be just as proud to say he had stuck to his plan of choosing a college before the start of his senior season.

“It (making a decision) feels really good,” Eggen said.

Understandably so. Eggen will be receiving a full scholarship — a nice reward considering tuition runs an undergraduate student from Wisconsin $21,144 a year according to Minnesota’s Website.

And deep down, Eggen had a feeling he would pick the Gophers. He has relatives in the Twin Cities. His parents hoped he would stay close to home. He wants to major in accounting, and he calls Minnesota’s program “top-notch.”

Still, maneuvering through the recruiting process was tougher on the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Eggen than a persistent defensive lineman wanting to flatten the quarterback.

Eggen, named second-team, All-State by The Associated Press last season, was a hot commodity. By May he had received scholarship offers from nine Division I programs. Besides Minnesota, he also gave consideration to playing for Indiana, Marshall and Western Michigan.

The fact he was attending football camps and getting his fair share of letters and calls from coaches who wanted his services kept Eggen busy.

“It (the recruiting process) is a lot more involved that you would think. That’s how it ended up being (for me),” said Eggen, who can sign his National Letter of Intent in November.

“At first I just thought that a couple of coaches would call me, I’d decide on a college and be done with it. It’s a lot different than I thought it would be.”

But today, Eggen is happy he’s put that all behind him.

He likely will redshirt his freshman year, but he knows he eventually will get to play in TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers’ new home field this fall. He knows he will have the opportunity to help a program that went 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten Conference) and reached the Insight Bowl last season.

And, Eggen knows he will get along just fine with Minnesota coach Tim Brewster.

“(Brewster) is a motivated guy. You can tell that in his speeches,” Eggen said. “When you listen to him you can tell how determined he is. He really wants to win, and so do I.”