Uiagalelei, who is of Samoan descent, was born in Bellflower, California. His older brother DJ Uiagalelei is a quarterback for Florida State. Matayo attended St. John Bosco High School. He played on both offense (tight end) and defense (defensive end) at St. John Bosco. He was rated by Sports Illustrated as the No. 19 prospect in the 2023 college football recruiting class.[2]Rivals.com rated him as the No. 20 recruit overall (No. 3 in California).[3] He had scholarship offers from multiple schools, including Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and USC.[3]
College football
Uiagalelei accepted a scholarship from Oregon in December 2022[4] and enrolled early in 2023.[5] During Oregon's 2023 summer camp, he was used at both tight end and defensive end.[6] He was rated as the true freshman most likely to play for the 2023 Oregon Ducks football team.[7]
