Darnell Jackson Set On Five Schools
Darnell Jackson, a highly improved 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward from Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has only taken one official visit, but he has decided that is enough.
There is a possibility that Jackson could make a decision about a school in the very near future or he might wait until the end of the summer, but one thing is perfectly clear, only five schools remain on his list.
Advertisement
“Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Purdue are the schools I’m looking at,” Jackson said. I have taken an official visit to New Mexico, an unofficial to Oklahoma and J.R. Giddens (KU commitment) and I went to Kansas last year for Late Night.
“I’m not going to take any more official visits,” he added. “I plan on making a decision about a school in September or October, but there is a possibility that it could come sooner.”
Kansas and Illinois both lost top-notch coaches and it appeared that each school might take a hit during the April long recruiting contact period, but that has not been the case, not for Kansas anyway.
Coach Bill Self kept the 2003 recruiting class intact and it appears that he is having a similar effect on players in the class of 2004.
“Coach Self came to my school a week ago and we really had a good conversation. I really love coach Self and the Kansas program,” Jackson said. “My mom feels the exact same way about Coach Self and the rest of the staff.”
Jackson averaged 18 points and 16 rebounds a game during his junior campaign and that is one of the reasons he is receiving the attention he is. There were concerns early on about his ability to be successful at the next level, but it appears that he’s squashed all of those doubts.
Jackson will spend the summer traveling with his Athletes First teammates. During that time, he will continue to develop his game and work to improve any weaknesses.
“I’m just going to keep working on my game and keep improving the best I can,” he said. “I think we open up in Bloomington, Indiana for the Nike Memorial Day Classic. I’m just going to focus on that and start preparing myself.”