Football: Why no love for Layton RB Jackson?
Sometimes, college football recruiting makes no sense to me.
For instance, I can't figure out why Layton High running back LaVaughn Jackson doesn't have a Division I football offer yet.
I ran into Jackson at BYU's non-padded camp last week, and he's as puzzled as I am.
Jackson's speed may be questionable -- he ran a 4.65 at the NIKE Combine at Murray Park a few weeks ago -- but he says he's been clocked at 4.58, respectable for a 5-11, 190-pounder.
Jackson is the player who returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Alta in the 5A state championship game last fall. He recorded the best score at the Nike Combine at Murray Park and was named MVP of the Nike Training Camp at BYU a few weeks ago.
He's more chiseled than a high school kid has a right to be.
Jackson said he didn't go to Utah's recent camp because he didn't know about it. He was going to to go Washington's camp last week, but twisted his ankle at didn't want to put out the expense of going to Seattle if he wasn't going to be at full strength.
So, the appearance at the combine and some events at BYU are about all the exposure he will get until his senior season begins, and, frankly, he said he is not really a BYU-type kid, although the Cougar coaching staff has been great to him.
Jackson's father, George Jackson, played running back for Weber State, but the Wildcats haven't offered, either.
"I talked to Snow College coaches," Jackson said last Wednesday. "They want me to come up and train with them and stuff. That's about all [the interest] I have right now."
Is there an academic problem?
Jackson said he got a 16 on the ACT college admission test (he'll need at least an 18 to get in to most schools) and will have to retake it this fall. He also said his junior year "was a struggle," but that he is taking summer school classes and "will get things turned around."
If he had his choice, he would go to a college in California, which is where his father and grandparents reside.
"I know I can play," he said. "It's just a matter of getting a school to believe in me."
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Dan Sorensen of UteZone.com is reporting that Utah has offered Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound athlete from L.D. Bell High in Hurst, Texas. Mauro, who is being recruited as both a tight end and a defensive end, also has an offer from Boise State.
Mauro told Sorensen that he also went to a camp at Stanford last week, and is receiving attention from Arkansas, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Alabama, Baylor and Rice.
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My co-worker, Lya Wodraska, blogged over the weekend about Boo Andersen, the former Alta High linebacker who has apparently earned a scholarship from Utah after getting his academics in order. Go to http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/index.htm
For instance, I can't figure out why Layton High running back LaVaughn Jackson doesn't have a Division I football offer yet.
I ran into Jackson at BYU's non-padded camp last week, and he's as puzzled as I am.
Jackson's speed may be questionable -- he ran a 4.65 at the NIKE Combine at Murray Park a few weeks ago -- but he says he's been clocked at 4.58, respectable for a 5-11, 190-pounder.
Jackson is the player who returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Alta in the 5A state championship game last fall. He recorded the best score at the Nike Combine at Murray Park and was named MVP of the Nike Training Camp at BYU a few weeks ago.
He's more chiseled than a high school kid has a right to be.
Jackson said he didn't go to Utah's recent camp because he didn't know about it. He was going to to go Washington's camp last week, but twisted his ankle at didn't want to put out the expense of going to Seattle if he wasn't going to be at full strength.
So, the appearance at the combine and some events at BYU are about all the exposure he will get until his senior season begins, and, frankly, he said he is not really a BYU-type kid, although the Cougar coaching staff has been great to him.
Jackson's father, George Jackson, played running back for Weber State, but the Wildcats haven't offered, either.
"I talked to Snow College coaches," Jackson said last Wednesday. "They want me to come up and train with them and stuff. That's about all [the interest] I have right now."
Is there an academic problem?
Jackson said he got a 16 on the ACT college admission test (he'll need at least an 18 to get in to most schools) and will have to retake it this fall. He also said his junior year "was a struggle," but that he is taking summer school classes and "will get things turned around."
If he had his choice, he would go to a college in California, which is where his father and grandparents reside.
"I know I can play," he said. "It's just a matter of getting a school to believe in me."
---------------------------
Dan Sorensen of UteZone.com is reporting that Utah has offered Josh Mauro, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound athlete from L.D. Bell High in Hurst, Texas. Mauro, who is being recruited as both a tight end and a defensive end, also has an offer from Boise State.
Mauro told Sorensen that he also went to a camp at Stanford last week, and is receiving attention from Arkansas, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Alabama, Baylor and Rice.
--------------------------
My co-worker, Lya Wodraska, blogged over the weekend about Boo Andersen, the former Alta High linebacker who has apparently earned a scholarship from Utah after getting his academics in order. Go to http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/index.htm
5 Comments:
I hope we offer the Jackson kid. I guess right now, we at Ute Nation are more concerned about making sure kids from Texas have their schooling paid for, not kids from Utah!!!
zoobfan99 -
What is that even suppose to mean?
If you really are a Ute fan(which I have serious doubts about) why would you care if Utah offers a kid from Texas vs. a kid from Utah? The coaches are trying to get the best possible players. If they find better players out of state than in state, they should give the out of state kids scholarships. It's all about winning, not making sure that Johnny Utah gets a scholarship.
Ute thunder (down under),
My reference to the Texas kids being offered over Utah kids is related to the fact that K-Whitt is too concerned with numbers of Texas kids (20-25) on scholarship on the Ute team. With only 85 scholarships available, I would hope that would offer more kids from our state, especially if all things are equal. I'm very excited for the running back from Houston, but I worry that we aren't going after in state kids. We only have one commit from an in-state kid.
utefan99,
Its always nice to have local kids on our roster. In fact if you look at the roster right now you'll see that we have a huge number of Utah kids on there.
Now having said that I also believe that coach Whitt knows how to evaluate football talent. Kids from Texas know football. It seems that just about every kid we recruit from Texas gets playing time as a true freshman.
I trust that Whitt and his staff will try to get the best players in our state and that may mean about 3-5 players from Utah every year. That number has been growing over the last few years though and there are alot of talented kids coming out of Utah high schools. Just trust Whitt. He's always been good at finding the diamonds in the rough.
Justin,
Thanks for your post. It was insightful. I am a Utah man in every aspect. I want to see success for my school as well as kids from this state. Over the (post McBride) years, I have seen alot of good in-state have to go the Juco or Weber State route. I know and understand what you are saying. I really don't want to lose out on any good in-state kids over a kid in Texas of equal or lesser talent.
That being said, the coaches tend to know much better than we as fans do. In that aspect, you are very right.
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