Charles Jackson, a 6-foot-8 255-pound power forward from Tri-County HS in Buena Vista, Ga. is likely to have made his college pick by this time next month. He told us last night that he has two important trips schduled for later in October, and a decision could come soon after.

"I've narrowed it down to Illinois, Penn State, and Ohio State," Jackson stated. "I've always wanted to play in the Big Ten Conference and I'm excited about the schools on my list. When the news came out that I would not be playing football in college, everyone called. But I felt like these three schools would give me the best opportunity."

Oh yeah. Jackson is also a big time high school football prospect. He plays offensive tackle and tight end, and is rated the #17 offensive tackle nationally by Rivals.com.

"Teams like Miami, Oklahoma, LSU, Auburn, and Georgia were recruiting me," Jackson said. "My first love is basketball, and that's what I'm going to play in college. I've played four years of high school football, and I'm ready to stop."

Jackson will visit Penn State on October 22nd, then visit Illinois the following weekend on the 29th. A trip is tentatively scheduled for Ohio State the second weekend in November. He says that all three schools have offered.

Jackson, like fellow Georgia Hawks AAU star Lewis Clinch, did not get invited to a major shoe camp this summer. However, Jackson did attend the NBPA Camp in Richmond, VA back in June where he had little run-in with NBA legend Scottie Pippen.

"We were just kind of fooling around going one on one, and then things got a little heated," he explained.

Eyewitnesses to the confrontation saw Jackson take Pippen off the dribble a couple of times, scoring on nifty spin moves and talking a little trash in the process.

So is that why Pippen decided to retire this week?

"Nah! It was all in good fun (laughing). Maybe you'll have to ask him if that was the reason."

Jackson said that his NPBA Camp experience was the highlight of his summer.

"The NBPA Camp showed me that everyone is human. You hear about all of these national guys like Greg Oden, and O.J. Mayo, and just hanging with those guys and playing against them was a huge confidence builder for me. It was also great being taught by the NBA guys. They show you what you need to do if you want to get to their level."

Back to recruiting, when asked if he had a leader at this point, Jackson said, "Illinois probably leads right now. I feel like they are an elite program, and the coaching staff is real cool."

Jackson has impressive agility and tremendous strength in the post. He always plays hard and is a dominant force on the glass. He is surprisingly quick for a big guy (as Scottie Pippen found out to his dismay) and can face up and put it on the floor.

Jackson averaged 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 blocks per game last season. He has a 3.8 GPA and scored close to 1000 on his first crack at the SAT.