If Omaha (Neb.) Burke Top247 linebacker
Devon Jackson was to commit on schedule as he planned heading into this weekend, he would have picked Arizona State. But after spending three days in Dade County, Jackson and his family plan on slowing things down as he weighs his options between the Hurricanes and Sun Devils.
“It’s cool. It’s a very special place,” Jackson told InsideTheU on Sunday morning. “There’s not very many schools that have the same recognition and feel like The U. There’s only a handful of schools that are like The U. Not even like The U because you can say Alabama and stuff like that, but they not South Florida. I thought it was a cool visit meeting with the guys. I just got done talking to [Manny] Diaz.”
The Hurricanes head coach made a lasting impression on the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder as he makes his way back to the Cornhusker State.
“It has you speechless because looking at it compared to other schools,” Jackson explained. “The other schools, they don’t have the networking and marketing like Miami. They don’t have competition like Miami. He’s straight to the point. No b.s. That’s the type of coach I like. Talking to him, he tells me that he’s not really worried about the football and academics from the standpoint of making a decision to come here. He told me that’s going to take care of itself - which it will. For him, he just wants me to feel comfortable with the social life.”
“He was telling me, ‘If you feel comfortable outside of football with the social life, then this is the spot for you.’ I took that and that’s why I’m thinking about when making my decision.”
It is no longer going to be an early July decision for Jackson after spending time in South Florida. That was not something he was prepared for coming into the visit.
“At first, I was going to make my decision early July, but going through this whole visit, it may take me a few weeks to make a decision,” Jackson said.
Between now and the time the nation’s No. 16 ‘backer makes his commitment, he’s going to be looking at the pros and cons of both Arizona State and Miami.
“Really everything,” Jackson said on what he’s going to be considering. “That’s why it may take me two, three weeks. It may take four, five, six, to seven weeks. I’m just looking, with football, how soon can I get on the field between Miami and ASU. The social life.”
“I’m comparing the two in every way possible to make sure I make the best decision for me. I don’t want to be one of these guys that commits to a school and then two or three months later they decommit.”
Coming into the weekend, Arizona State was the clear leader for arguably the nation’s fastest linebacker.
“At first, I didn’t really want to come here. 60, 70, maybe 80 percent of these dudes are from South Florida. They all know each other already. It felt like, for me, a dude from Omaha, Nebraska. There’s a bunch of cornfields - I felt like I wasn’t going to fit in. At first, I kind of didn’t. But hanging out with the guys and just talking with the coaches, getting a grasp of everything, I think it was cool and I think I’ll be alright if I came to Miami,” Jackson said.
Tirek Austin-Cave was his player host.
“I was Tirek and we just went to South Beach and we was kind of just chilling and he was showing me around to see if I was messing with the vibe and I did. I liked it,” Jackson said.
This past fall, Nebraska’s No. 2 ranked player went as fast as 10.54 in the 100-meter.
