Better Know A Buckeye: James Jackson
Height: 5’11
Weight: 170lbs
40: 4.4
High School: Grand Ledge HS; Grand Ledge, TSUN
His Recruitment: In all fairness to James, Michigan isn’t the goldmine of recruiting that California, Texas, Florida, western Pennsylvania and even Ohio are. After his sophomore season, James had become a bit of a star attraction in his Grand Ledge hometown. Much of this was a result of his electrifying speed and his state championship in the 100m. However, that didn’t translate — at least not immediately, as we’ll see — to early offers. However, his exploits were enough to garner some attention from the in-state schools. His participation in summer camps made some of this possible. In late June, he attended a summer camp at Michigan, where he participated as a wide receiver prospect and was introduced to Lloyd Carr’s staff. The next week, Western Michigan held a satellite combine at his very own high school. In both camps, James Jackson clearly stood out, even making a big impression on Lloyd Carr’s coaching staff. Afterwards, James was receiving early consideration as Michigan’s top junior prospect and was subject to serious interest from around the state.
Michigan State and Michigan, the two BCS schools in-state, sent out early offers. The Michigan offer was far from a surprise as rumors swirled in his hometown during the summer that he unofficially already had one from Lloyd Carr. The offer from Michigan State should be of little surprise as well. Grand Ledge is just outside the I-96/69 belt encompassing Lansing, roughly a half-hour drive from campus. Interest didn’t stop there. He took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame for the USC game that year1. He was also getting mailers from Iowa, Rutgers, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, and Louisville, among others. Unofficially, the offer from Michigan was a huge one. Jackson had a good rapport with Lloyd Carr and his staff and seemed to privilege Michigan above his admittedly short offer list. If Carr had remained at Michigan, James would likely have been a Wolverine. Nevertheless, Lloyd Carr’s announced departure from the program precipitated his increased exposure to the college football recruiting landscape.
Interest in James swelled in over a week-long period in late February. On February 21st, James returned to Ann Arbor and was assured of his scholarship by incoming coach Rich Rodriguez. On the 22nd, Iowa and Alabama both offered James a scholarship. Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois weren’t far behind either. Over the weekend (Feb 23-24), James and his father made a visit to Ohio State’s campus for Junior Day2. James left with positive remarks about the campus and the entire atmosphere surrounding the university. He also left with an offer in tow. On February 25th, the Monday after his visit, Ohio State’s staff called James’ head coach (Matt Bird) to let him know that an offer from the Buckeyes was forthcoming. The new interest continued through early March and came from all over the country. Oregon came through with an offer. The Ducks were eventually succeeded by big offers from the Florida Gators and the UCLA Bruins, the latter team leaving an impression on James.
It took about two weeks for the process of the official offer to be formalized, but that did not stop Ohio State’s staff from repeatedly expressing interest. Further, the delay didn’t rub James the wrong way. The arrival of the offer served as a springboard to an invitation to some other events at Ohio State in order to get a better look. James and his family were invited to a weekend visit at Ohio State on the weekend of March 29-30 right as James was getting ready to go to Michigan’s Junior Day. While James was still open this early into the process, the visit left an indelible mark on him. Spring practice was already under way, so James got to see part of what it was like to be a college football player3. The coaching staff also got to meet James for the second time, a meeting that resonated well with both James and his family. While James remarked about how down to earth Tressel and the rest of the staff were, the parents were really impressed with the head coach. Overall, two things stood out for James from this visit: the coaches, and the vibe around the program. In James’ words:
“At Ohio State they have that vibe about them, ‘come here and you’ll be a champion.’ I love that vibe.”
James came back for Ohio State’s April 19th Spring Game, an event for which James and his family hurriedly booked their hotels a month in advance. While the previous visit at the end of March showed James some of what it’s like to be a college football player, the Spring Game showed James what gameday was like at Ohio State. The coaching staff again left an impression on James and his family on their third visit to Columbus. James commented how Tressel exerted no pressure on James to make a choice, leaving him to remark how he could find no flaws in Tressel’s character. For his parents, Ohio State was coming off as the total package. James’ father, Curtis Jackson, remarked that everything at Ohio State, from A to Z, was really nice. The next week, James was in Los Angeles for UCLA’s Spring Game and was impressed with what he saw. Of all the other programs pursuing him, UCLA (correctly pronounced: Yoo-cla) seemed to be the only program that made as strong an impression as Ohio State. James liked the Southern California weather4 and liked seeing the Rose Bowl. While he noted that UCLA’s Spring Game didn’t bring in as many fans as Ohio State’s, he noted that the fans seemed to be more involved in Pasadena than in Columbus. Moreover, like Jim Tressel, His Coachness Rick Neuheisel earned James’ affection. Like Tressel, Neuheisel was laid back — but not too laid back — and instilled in James a sense that he was going to turn UCLA’s program around just as Tressel’s program instills a championship mentality.
James admitted the week before that the trip to UCLA would determine what the next step in his recruitment. Ohio State had seemingly solidified itself at the top of his list after the Spring Game, but the UCLA visit seemed to change that. He felt as comfortable at Ohio State as he did at UCLA. With a tough decision before him, James wanted to focus on his track season entering the month of May before making any further decisions.
His Commitment: After the visit to UCLA, not much was written or said about James as he focused on other, immediate things. For all anyone knew at the time, Ohio State seemed to be a favorite, though his affinity for UCLA should protract the decision-making process.
It should then be of some surprise when word of a verbal commitment was made public on May 12. However, James explained that it just felt like it was the right time.
“It just felt right. First I called coach (Darrell) Hazell and told him I wanted to be a Buckeye. He wanted me to call coach (Jim) Tressel. I called him and made it official.”
In the same breath, James said that choosing a program other than UCLA was tough. He liked what he saw at UCLA and admitted to the Bruins being his second option. However, concerns of distance from his Lansing-area home precluded a verbal commitment to His Coachness’ staff.
Moreover, it wasn’t as if there was any regret in choosing Ohio State over UCLA. It’s not like Ohio State was his backup option, nor was it the case that choosing Ohio State over UCLA required some post hoc rationalization that drew attention to the distance factor. Though new affinities for UCLA developed after his late April visit to Pasadena, the bond James felt with the coaching staff remained. In particular, James spoke very highly of Darrell Hazell, wide receiver coach for the Buckeyes, when discussing his commitment. In short, James loved how honest Hazell was through the entire process.
While James earlier expressed an affection for His Coachness, Rick Neuheisel and a belief that Neuheisel will turn around the UCLA program, James admitted that Jim Tressel and the position that he and the Buckeyes occupy/occupied in the college football landscape was a little more desirable. Whereas UCLA rebuilds, the Buckeyes are among the country’s elite. Yes, the proverbial “great, but not great enough” is a troubling predicament for fans of the football program. The highs are higher but the lows can be lower when fans ask themselves what Ohio State needs to get over the hump that it doesn’t already have. However, optimism remains high for James when thinking of both Tressel and the Buckeyes. Per his words with Scout:
“I also feel great to be able to play for Jim Tressel. I consider coach Tressel to be the best coach in the country. He’s done great things at Ohio State. I hope to be a part of a lot more.”
…and Bucknuts:
In addition to being much closer to home, Jackson said the overall state of the Ohio State football program was a big factor in his decision.
“They have something great going on,” Jackson said. “I want to be part of it.”
James Jackson’s May 12th decision makes him the 14th commitment in the 2009 class. It also alleviated some of the sting of losing Darrell Givens to the Nitts two days earlier.
Decommitting? I would be remiss without including the rumors that followed James after his May 12th decision. If you remember, James was a constant topic of a possible decommitment from the Buckeyes. After all, there are two things to remember: 1) James initially thought he’d make a decision after he could take some official visits to get a better view of the programs and 2) rumormongering is what the internets are for. The origin of these rumors aren’t very clear to me, and I don’t think they’re supposed to be, but they always made implicit that James was a tentative commitment to Ohio State, perhaps feeling the pinch of a rapidly expanding class, and that he would go somewhere else — probably UCLA — in due time.
By July 12, two months to the day after his decision, Kurelic had run an article titled “No Second Thoughts for Jackson” where James was quoted as saying he was still happy with his decision. By November 10th, a mini-ripple circulated around the web following this post on Bucknuts forum5 saying that James Jackson had decommitted. A mini-panic erupted as a result of the all-too-familiar forum poster citing a “trusted source” “close to the situation” and being from “[insert recruit here]‘s [hometown/HS]“. Eventually, most people caught on that no word of the “decommitment” was picked up by any other news outlet or recruiting service, corroborating that the internets are indeed for rumormongering. Once again, Kurelic and Bucknuts came to the rescue, by running an article citing James’ HS head coach (Matt Bird) that James will indeed be a Buckeye. Therein, Bird drove a few points home:
- The specific rumor started with an anonymous message board post.
- A mini-circus followed, mostly from local news outlets (remember: James was a bit of an attraction in Grand Ledge), trying to find out more.
- Bird contacted Ohio State’s staff, who by this time heard the rumor as well, to assure them that James was 100 percent committed.
- He reassured the staff that James would never do that to them on account of how gracious the coaching staff has been to both James and the high school football program at Grand Ledge.
- Lastly, and most importantly, while James still tried to hammer out an official visit to Ohio State. While James eventually took a visit to UCLA in December, it was only at the behest of Jim Tressel. James was a Midwestern guy at heart, and the visit to UCLA didn’t make him second guess his commitment.
In short, James was, and would be by February 4th, a Buckeye.
If that November reassurance wasn’t enough, James made an announcement in late January that he found out he had enough credits under his belt to graduate early after all. This allowed him to graduate in December and be ready to enroll at Ohio State in March in order to get a headstart on his football career for the Buckeyes. With it, the decommitment rumors were just about dead. Jackson quietly signed his LOI on Signing Day, ending the recruiting process for good.
Where He Excels: Maybe you heard by now, but James is fast. For reals. In fact, his foray into the recruiting world came on the heels of a state championship in the 100m and a reported 4.31 40 time. I’ll go ahead and draw attention away from that number, since while it does adequately reflect that James is indeed fast (for reals), there’s probably some measurement error in that reported time (probably hand-timed). Nevertheless, where Ohio State targeted the taller matchup problems last year (Posey, Stoneburner), they went hard after James, who’s more of a speedy wideout. It’s impressive that James can be so fast in spite of his short strides.
Moreover, his speed is not just reducible to a speed at full stride. He accelerates incredibly well off the line of scrimmage which allows him to create just enough for the bubble screens and underneath routes he ran often for his Grand Ledge Comets. It’ll help him get vertical in a hurry, where the coaching staff must really see his potential lie.
Must Work On: While props are necessarily given to James for his natural speed, it would still be fair to say that James is a raw talent at the moment. Without the requisite effort, he could be stuck with that “track star playing football” critique. He doesn’t physically create separation on a route or going for the ball, but that’s basically not his job. His job is to create separation with smooth, crisp movements and cut up field with the ball for big yards. However, while physicality is certainly not his strong suit, running crisp routes isn’t either. Granted, almost no one can run crisp routes at the HS level, but this will be something James has to work on at Ohio State. Most of his routes with the Grand Ledge Comets were short, underneath routes or bubble screens. It’ll have to be something James works on to compliment his jawdropping speed and ability to cut.
Strength training will also be something James has to work on at Ohio State (as does everyone). In James case, a little upper body strength should help him not get lost in traffic on the line or on the underneath route. The speed advantage James has will inevitably shrink at the next level, so it’ll be important for James not to be easily jammed or thrown off by linebackers waiting for him underneath.
I mentioned I was optimistic about James, especially knowing that he was getting a headstart at Ohio State. He’ll be walking into a situation where Hazell has told him to “play like he’s a starter“. Being thrown into the fire as such, but thrown in earlier than his other classmates at the position (Fields, Carter) should help him work on these aforementioned things. He’ll be privy to a college football conditioning program before his other classmates and should receive the personal instruction necessary regarding his route-running and body control. All things considered, I think James is probably the incoming freshman (of the 7 participating) I’m most interested in watching (or at least hearing about from my friends) at the Spring Game. By all accounts, James is a likeable, coachable kid for whom the sky is the limit.
Redshirt? Noooooope. Early enrollees tend not to redshirt. Further, if Ohio State is going to do less I-formation this year and more 3-4 wide receiver sets, there’s going to be some window for James to see the field on offense his freshman year.
Highlights: Far be it from me to be cranky that CJ Barnett and Jamie Wood didn’t have stuff on the YouTubes, but I guess it’s easier to get on YouTube if you run a reported 4.31 40 yard dash.
Miscellany
- I don’t claim to be an expert on Lansing area football, but it was surprising to read that the Lansing State Journal thinks James Jackson was the area’s most recruited player since Randy Kinder, who signed with the Irish over 15 years ago.
- A friend of mine graduated from nearby Holt High School and had a few thoughts about the area, though none about James (he’s more of an NBA guy). Holt and Grand Ledge are rivals of some sorts, though my friend couldn’t express the slightest interest in the intricacies of it. Grand Ledge lies outside the I-96/69 belt, though Lansing has been expanding and trying to reincorporate it. Apparently Holt (in Delhi Township) is about 4 times the size of Grand Ledge, mostly because Grand Ledge’s population is really spread out. From what my friend tells me, Grand Ledge has the best Chinese place on the west side of Lansing, a good Italian restaurant, a Meijer and a country club. It’s not clear that there’s anything else there other than James Jackson.
- James Jackson’s father, Curtis Jackson6, is a coach at Otto Middle School.
- Both articles linked in this section above speak favorably about James’ character. They’re worth reading.
- I mentioned earlier that James would likely have been a Wolverine if Lloyd Carr had stayed. In his own words:
“I really got a good vibe from the old coaching staff at Michigan,” Jackson said. “To tell you the truth, I probably would have committed if they were still there. I have to get a better feel now for the new staff.”
- Michigan State, the other early player for James’s services, were written off for an understandable reason. Michigan State was so close to James’ hometown and James wanted a change of scenery.
- While I can’t imagine it would’ve made that big of a difference to James’ recruitment, he did have glowing comments about Terrelle Pryor. Per Scout:
Finally Jackson spoke about the idea of some day catching passes from incoming freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor
“Of course Terrelle Pryor being there had an effect on me,” Jackson said. “I wanted to choose a school that has a great quarterback and he’s the best. Terrelle Pryor played a huge role in me committing to Ohio State. Everything about being a Buckeye is a dream come true.”
- In one of the coolest things I’ve read about since following recruiting, James Jackson’s high school coach (Matt Bird) got a package from Jim Tressel with a few plays that the Buckeyes run. Bird used them extensively during Jackson’s senior season, not only to diversify his offense, but better prepare James for Ohio State. It seemed to work, as James was an all-state performer his senior season.
- James hopes to wear no. 6 for Ohio State, though will take no. 9 or no. 4 if available.
- James has become close with his fellow wide receivers in this class, including Duron Carter and Chris Fields. Fields in particular has been in close contact with him.
- Doing this last year was a long task, fortunately Bucknuts has made it easier.
Vital Statistics: As a senior, Jackson caught 48 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns. Jackson also had three touchdowns on returns. On defense, Jackson made 29 tackles including five for loss. He had five pass deflections and intercepted a pass. Jackson was a first-team all-state selection. He was named to the Lansing State Journal Dream Team. As a junior, Jackson caught 30 passes for 500 yards on offense and also had two interceptions on defense. He has been clocked as fast as 10.56 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
Rankings: Jackson is rated as the No. 3 prospect overall in Michigan and the No. 11 prospect in the Midwest by SuperPrep. He is also a SuperPrep All-American, ranking as the nation’s No. 17 wide receiver prospect. ESPN.com ranks Jackson as the nation’s No. 30 receiver prospect.
Alas, James Jackson. you’re now better known… if that’d be okay with you.
And, as I do it now: let’s put him on the board.
| Class of 2009 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Position | Hometown | Better Known? | Name | Position | Hometown | Better Known? |
| CJ Barnett | DB | Clayton, OH | 02.20 | Marcus Hall | OL | Glenville, OH | |
| Dorian Bell | LB | Monroeville, PA | Adam Homan | FB | Coldwater, OH | 01.29 | |
| Adam Bellamy | DT | Aurora, OH | Carlos Hyde | RB | Naples, FL | ||
| Jaamal Berry | RB | Miami, FL | James Jackson | WR | Grand Ledge, TSUN | 03.05 | |
| Zach Boren | FB | Pickerington, OH | 01.22 | Storm Klein | LB | Nerk, Ahia | 02.02 |
| Corey Brown | WR/DB | Monroeville, PA | Corey Linsley | OL | Youngstown, OH | ||
| Duron Carter | WR | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | Sam Longo | OL | Belbrook, OH | ||
| Dominic Clarke | DB | Frederick MD | 02.11 | Jack Mewhort | OL | Toledo, OH | 02.05 |
| Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet | DE | Garfield Heights, OH | Jonathan Newsome | LB/DE | Glenville, OH | ||
| Chris Fields | WR | Painesville, OH | John Simon | DE | Youngstown, OH | ||
| Reid Fragel | TE | Grosse Pointe, TSUN | Jordan Whiting | LB | Louisville, KY | ||
| Kenny Guiton | QB | Aldine, TX | Jamie Wood | DB | Pickerington, OH | 02.26 | |
| Jordan Hall | ATH | Jeannette, PA | |||||
- I can’t imagine he left impressed as USC blanked the Irish that game. [↩]
- This was the same Junior Day where Terrelle Pryor made an appearance, as I mentioned last week. [↩]
- Ohio State didn’t practice with full pads yet. [↩]
- Having grown up in Los Angeles, this stuff mystifies me every time. Unseasonable warmth sucks. [↩]
- This may not be the initial post on the rumored November decommitment, but it is one of the first. [↩]
- …not of the 50 Cent variety… [↩]
Man,
I don’t know where you find the time to do this, but thank you! Your website rocks, and all of this info on the new Buckeyes makes me more excited for the season to start every day.
“I don’t know where you find the time to do this”
Neither do I
, but I appreciate the regards. Thanks.
The kid is fast! That short stride of his will translate to maneuverability on returns and yards after a catch. As I read these BKAB articles, it impresses me that the coaching staff tries very hard to recruit character along with athletic prowess. Football is a 365 day long season, part of that they play the game too!
You forget the part about him admitting to be a terrible basketball player.
Vico, awesome job as always, BKAB is always a treat. I may find myself pulling for the “BKAB” guys a little harder in upcoming seasons. James acceleration in small spaces is what really stands out, we already know if he gets a step on the defender you can kiss him goodbye.
thats my bro!!
..great article..
[...] great athlete that got away from Michigan and Michigan State, our friend Vico has the lowdown on his recruitment and high school career. The receiver also ran track for the Buckeyes this past [...]