Domani Jackson never really did bask in the spotlight that came with being a highly-ranked, five-star prospect. The coveted cornerback from Mater Dei High School would have preferred to play out his recruitment without any such fanfare or scrutiny.
Like it or not, though, that spotlight endures once fans attach expectations to those recruiting rankings.
Defensive end Korey Foreman arrived at USC as a five-star top national prospect a year before Jackson and can attest to that. He has 2.5 career sacks through two seasons (plus one incredible game-sealing interception vs. UCLA, of course), but while he's yet to carve out a major role within the Trojans defense he is nonetheless asked about and debated on message boards as much as any player on the team, as he continues to develop and find his own path separate from the hype and timetable of others.
In Jackson's case, he hasn't had much of a chance to deliver on his potential while missing most of his senior high school season and first USC season due to knee surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation process. But he too remains affixed under that same spotlight of interest, intrigue and -- in the case of last Thursday -- inquisition.
Is he fully healthy? Is he the same elite athlete he was before the injury? Where is his confidence after such a significant rehab process? Could this be a breakout season for the No. 3-ranked CB and No. 17 overall national prospect from the 2022 recruiting class?
Jackson seemed reluctant to face that flurry of questions and dissect his physical (and really mental) condition now, about a year and a half removed from surgery to repair his patellar tendon, but he took his spot along the fence of the Trojans' practice field Thursday in front of a flank of cameras and reporters for his first interview since arriving at USC.
As for that spotlight of interest that follows him because of what many think he can do for the program, Jackson not surprisingly said he doesn't -- or prefers not to -- notice.
"No, not really. Truthfully, I didn't really care about five-star and stuff like that. I was never big in my head about that stuff," he said. "I'm just a regular kid doing what regular kids do -- just try to outwork everybody every single day. So nah, that doesn't really bother me."
He did open up more and more as the questions came, all really probing at the same points -- how is his knee feeling now and what has the mental challenge of the recovery process been over all these months?
