Georgia lands commitment of massive basketball prospect turned 2024 OL Jahzare Jackson
For Jahzare Jackson, the path to a collegiate football career has been anything but traditional, but now, he’s found a home at the next level, announcing his commitment to the Georgia Bulldogs today.
A 6-foot-9 (who’s been reported as being as tall as 6-foot-11), 300 pound former basketball prospect turned offensive lineman, Jackson becomes the twenty-ninth member of Georgia’s Class of 2024 and is the seventh offensive lineman of the cycle for the Bulldogs.
Jackson, who hails from San Diego, California, is a 20 year old prospect who had initially planned to take his talents to the NBA after playing with the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite basketball program after spending time at IMG Academy in his early high school career.
He chose the Bulldogs over opportunities at Florida, Mississippi State, and Florida State.
Jahzare Jackson ready to focus on football
After initially entering his name into the NBA Draft, Jackson began to explore his football options further, taking official visits throughout June.
“I’m thinking of fully transitioning over to football now,” Jackson told Keith Neibuhr of GatorsOnline. “Football was always my first sport. I never really fell out of love. I have that passion for it. But when I was younger I kept growing and getting taller and people around me said, ‘You should play basketball.” But this was always kind of the plan. I always kind of knew I’d be able to go back to playing football.”
For Jackson, there’s development still to come after so much time away from the gridiron, but he’s soaking in the experience and learning as much as he can along the way.
“It’s been great. The transition has been great,” he told Neibuhr. “It’s been fast, but I’ve been able to process it all and grasp it all with good measures. It’s been a good experience and I’ve just been taking it all it.”
Jahzare Jackson is expected to be the final piece of Georgia’s 2024 signing class, which finished at No. 1 in the recruiting industry per the On3 Industry Ranking.
