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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Georgia made an exciting final addition to its 2024 signing class Monday with the commitment of former elite basketball recruit Jahzare Jackson, a 6-foot-11 offensive tackle who is now the tallest player in college football.
Jackson, who spent the last three years playing basketball with the Overtime Elite program based in Atlanta, announced his commitment to Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs on Friday, opting for Georgia over Florida, Florida State, Mississippi State and Arkansas in the quick end. – fire recruitment. Jackson, 20, will make up the Bulldogs’ 2024 class and he’s already on campus with plans to enroll next month.
Entrenched in the NBA draft process just a month ago, Jackson headed to Athens as one of the physical anomalies of college football, preparing to join a national championship caliber program with the coaching staff said to have laid out a clear path to future playing time.
“This year, the plan is for me to go in there and buy into the scheme and learn the scheme and also just develop and get better,” Jackson told ESPN. “They want me to come in my first year and maybe play 20-30 snaps for the season. After that, they think I have the potential to come in my second year and be a starter.”
Jackson said he arrived at Georgia at 6-11, 340 pounds, immediately asserting himself as one of the tallest players in college football.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Jackson will become the fourth Division I football player to go 6-11 since 2017 and second among active players, joining Jacksonville State offensive lineman Tom Hadary. According to Pro Football Reference data, the NFL scouting combine has hosted only two players taller than 6-foot-9 since 2000 — former Georgia offensive lineman Dennis Roland and current Detroit Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper.
Football was Jackson’s first sport growing up in San Diego, and he held multiple Division I football offers by the end of high school. But when Jackson sprouted in height, his athletic path drifted from the football field to the season on the basketball court.
As recently as May, Jackson’s sights remained on a career in basketball.
An AAU teammate of Bronny James, Jackson spent his first two years of high school at Florida’s IMG Academy before transferring to Overtime Elite. He won a championship in each of his three seasons and averaged 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in his final season with the program, where his teammates included 2024 NBA lottery picks Alex Sarr and Rob Dillingham as well as Tyler Smith, the 33rd overall pick. . .
When Jackson entered the NBA draft this spring, talent evaluators were projecting him as a late second-round pick who couldn’t make it. While Jackson contemplates other opportunities in the G League and overseas, football — a sport he hasn’t played competitively since high school — is back in focus, paving the way for a whirlwind June recruiting season.
“It’s just making the right decision at the end of the day and evaluating all the opportunities that are on the table,” Jackson said. “I have to figure out what I’m going to do, where I’m going to start, where I’m going to start making this transition. Then I have to work.”
Jackson’s recruitment attracted attention from across the Power 4. He took a June visit to Florida, Florida State and Mississippi State before closing out with Georgia, where he felt the fit between his future teammates, found a connection with the coaching staff and found an environment he remembers. from those in the know at Overtime Elite.
“It just felt familiar coming from a pro atmosphere,” Jackson said. “I felt like it was a place I could see myself being a part of and a place I could contribute. Coach Smart didn’t sugarcoat anything for them. That got me.”
This fall will be seen as a development window for Jackson, one of six offensive linemen in the program’s class of 2024. In Year 2, he plans to compete for starting snaps on the Bulldogs’ offensive line with at least one eye on NFL draft eligibility. at the end of the 2025 season.
In the meantime, Jackson arrives as Georgia among the sport’s most exciting recruiting stories and as one of its most exciting physical prospects.
“I’m honored to be able to return to the sport that started everything for me in my athletic career,” said Jackson. “It was a great experience and I have nothing but thanks.”
