Somehow, Georgia’s offensive line just got bigger. Jahzare Jackson will now be a Bulldog.
Jackson announced on Monday that he’s committed to Georgia as an offensive lineman after making the basketball-to-football career change at the beginning of the year. Jackson will sign as a member of the 2024 recruiting class and enroll at Georgia before the start of the fall semester.
“Why UGA? Shoot, I fell in love with the coaches. I fell in love with the school. Players were welcoming when I got there,” Jackson said in his announcement post. “I’m still in Georgia too, at the end of the day. That was a big thing for me still being able to be in Georgia. I just felt like when I got there it was home for real. All the coaches were cool.”
He explained the pitch from Kirby Smart.
“He’s got these laminated papers, you know? They’ve got the whole list of who got drafted in the past year. All the players that got drafted from Georgia are in red,” he said. “I can’t stop you from going to the league.”
Jackson comes to Georgia via one of the more unique recruiting journeys in recent memory. The 6-foot-10 offensive lineman started his athletic career as a basketball standout. The once 3-star center out of IMG Academy joined the Overtime Elite league, where he went on to win multiple championships. Jackson first rose to fame during his AAU days as a high school teammate of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Bronny James when a viral photo surfaced of Jackson standing next to LeBron James of the two looking eye-to-eye. Jackson averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds last season for the City Reapers.
Out of high school, Jackson ranked as a 3-star center in the 247Sports basketball rankings. He was the No. 35 center nationally and the No. 232 overall basketball prospect.
Upon the completion of the Overtime Elite season, Jackson elected to get back to his roots. He grew up playing football, but transitioned to basketball when he grew beyond the traditional football build. Jackson announced he planned to pursue the football route while entering his name into the NBA Draft. He camped at programs like Florida, Florida State, and Georgia and generated plenty of buzz thanks to his rare frame.
Jackson’s official visit to Georgia was his last of the June window. He went to Athens from June 21-23, and that’s when the Bulldogs put the finishing touches on a recruitment that had picked up traction after Jackson’s camp with the Bulldogs earlier in the cycle.
Jackson will be a scholarship signee who counts towards Georgia’s 2024 class, that included massive offensive linemen Nyier Daniels, Daniel Calhoun, Michael Uini, Marcus Harrison, and Malachi Toliver, one of the most sizable offensive line cycles in industry history.
Jackson will join the Bulldogs later this summer.
Jahzare Jackson is an OT prospect, played in OTE.
He’s huge, 6-11/322.
Interested to see him in positional drills. pic.twitter.com/lmt8FNGOxE
— Brendan Sonnone (@BSonnone) June 9, 2024
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