UGA recruiting: WR target Kearis Jackson is visiting Auburn
DawgNation Staff
Want a daily lap through Georgia football recruiting? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. We’ll cover the news and which way a 4-star prospect such as Kearis Jackson might lean, plus add some perspective to help fans figure out what it all means.
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I spoke to wide receiver Kearis Jackson for the first time in early April 2016. He’d just picked up his second offer, this one from coach Mark Richt and the Miami Hurricanes. Miami’s offered followed one from Western Kentucky.
He was one of those quick-twitch kids at Peach County High School. That program’s reputation means something. An athletic kid in Fort Valley, Ga., is akin to a salesman pointing out that real expensive Ferrari on the lot.
A lot has changed for Jackson since then. The 4-star receiver has picked up offers aplenty. Georgia offered on April 25, 2016. He also somehow won a state championship in the shot put. That’s pretty rare air for a pass catcher.
Jackson even is set to become a big brother to a new addition to the family. His baby sister, Madeline, is on the way.
The other grand reveal for the family will be where Jackson will choose to play college football. The nation’s No. 24 receiver for the 2018 cycle, per the 247 Sports Composite, is set to announce his choice on Aug. 19.
UGA will be anticipating that day. The folks at Peach County told me at their spring game that Georgia receivers coach James Coley has had him as a top priority at the position since last season.
Which teams are in it for Kearis Jackson?
Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State sound as if they are real contenders here. Florida State and LSU also made his top 7. Are any of these schools rising to the top, with a strong closing kick?
“It is probably like Auburn, Alabama and Georgia,” Jackson said. “It is probably going to come down to those three because I don’t want to go too far off.”
Most of the industry points to Jackson as a Georgia lean. He’s worn the bands and done the video bombs. But he’s at Auburn this week on a big visit.
He’s been to Auburn more this summer than to any other school. Jackson hasn’t been to UGA at all this summer. He’s not even sure if he will be at UGA this weekend for what folks on the DawgNation.com message board have been calling the “Kir-B-Q” cookout event.
He has visited Georgia more than he has Auburn, but he is scheduled to visit The Plains on Thursday. It will not be an overnight trip.
“I may go to Georgia on the 14th [Friday],” Jackson said. “But I don’t know about Georgia. I know I am going to Auburn this week, though.”
How many times has Jackson been to Auburn?
“A lot,” Jackson said. “I’ve been to Auburn the most this summer. That’s the only school I have been to this summer.”
The visit count sounds like “about 10” overall to UGA.
The trip this week to Auburn will be his fifth this summer. There, he’ll meet up with 5-star QB Justin Fields. They are expected to throw in Jordan-Hare Stadium with 4-star wide receiver Matt Hill of Brookwood (Snellville, Ga.) High School.
“We are all going to throw together,” Jackson said. “I know Matt really well. We were all planning on going to Auburn together for this visit.”
This will just be the second time that Fields and Jackson have taken a college visit together. Does Jackson have a good idea of what he wants to do yet?
“I don’t know,” he said. “It is going to be tough. It is going to depend on the next few visits I take.”
Auburn is closest to his home, about an hour and 45 minutes away. Georgia is about 30 minutes farther away than that. The Bulldogs were the first SEC team to offer him, with Alabama’s offer not far behind.
What keeps Kearis Jackson coming back to Auburn?
That answer is two-fold.
UGA recruiting: Big visit ahead for DT Rick Sandidge and his family