USC coaches push harder for Jackson
Giles Jackson has always been viewed as an impressive high school football player who could make an impact at the college level.
This summer, he gained even more recognition. He picked up scholarship offers from a few schools with serious football programs. USC was one of those schools. The Trojan staff offered after Jackson impressed at one of their summer camps. While Rivals.com lists him as a tailback (and other schools want him there as well), USC sees Jackson as a slot receiver after working him out.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound prospect from Freedom HS in Oakley, Calif. responded to those offers in a big way. He set a commitment date for late August. But as the date approached, he changed his mind. Jackson tweeted today that he will no longer be committing on August 24.
TrojanSports.com caught up with the three-star prospect minutes after his announcement. He says he'll likely stick with his current top five of Cal, Michigan, Oregon, Oregon State and USC. He just wants to take a closer look at one of those schools.
"I've been talking to Coach Tee Martin and Coach (Bryan) Ellis a lot," Jackson said. "They've been pushing to get me really hard the past week."
Jackson says "yes" when asked if USC has been recruiting him harder recently. He also says "yeah" when asked if USC's interest was basically the reason he pushed back his commitment date.
"That made a huge impact," Jackson said. "That's my favorite school, so them talking to me a lot makes me think a lot."
With his commitment originally scheduled for just days from now, and with USC pushing, Jackson felt rushed into a decision. He's now taking his time again and doesn't know when he'll commit. He still plans to sign in December. He also plans to schedule at least one more visit before committing.
"I want to visit USC again," Jackson said.
Jackson wants to answer a few questions he couldn't answer while on campus back in June.
"Do I feel like it's somewhere I belong?," Jackson said when asked what he hopes to learn from his USC visit. "Will it help me strive to become a better person?"
He doesn't have a date for his USC trip yet but he hopes to visit for one of the Trojan home games. He also says his next trip to USC will be an official visit.