Former Kentucky Football players launch service aimed at helping high school athletes find the right college fit

Two former University of Kentucky Football players have launched a new online platform called Matchlete, a free online assessment for high school athletes to discover college programs that best fit their academic, athletic, and career profile.

Matchlete was co-founded by Jeremy Jones, who was on Kentucky’s 2007 Music City Bowl team, and Matt Roark, the former receiver-turned-quarterback that led the 2011 Kentucky Football team to a historic victory over Tennessee, snapping a 26-game losing streak to the Volunteers. The two former teammates have been friends for over a decade, and they say their new service is designed by former student-athletes, for current student-athletes.

Jones said the two creators surveyed a number of former NCAA athletes and found 44 percent did not feel they selected the right college to fit their needs.

“Student-athletes often commit to colleges based on what college coaches promise them,” Jones said. “Matchlete.com provides a service to student-athletes to select a school that fits them all the way around--academically, athletically, and for their future career goals. It streamlines the recruiting process putting all the information a student-athlete needs in one place to make the right decision.”

Online users of the service create a profile and complete a survey pertaining to athletics and academics. An algorithm is then used to match the student-athlete with a list of the best colleges for him/her.

“Then the power is in the student-athlete’s hands,” Jones added. “We suggest the athletes share that list with their respective high school coaches to help prepare for the collegiate future that best fits the individual.”

Roark is now a graduate assistant for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. Jones graduated from UK in 2011 with a B.A. degree in communications. In 2015, Jones helped coach the Lexington Catholic Knights to Class 3A state football championship appearance.

To learn more about Matchlete, log on to matchlete.com or follow them on Twitter.