Irish Sports Daily caught up with Adoree’ Jackson on Wednesday night, shortly after the 2014 California athlete learned he’d actually had an offer from the Irish for a couple months even though he didn’t know it.
“It means a lot because it’s a traditional school with a good program,” the 5-foot-11, 186-pounder from Junipero Serra in Gardena, Calif., said.
You can read Wednesday’s story here and we caught up with him again for some more thoughts on his recruitment later in the week.
Jackson has a lengthy list of offers that includes USC, UCLA, Washington, LSU, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska and Texas A&M among several others. Jackson, who is also an elite long jumper, was excited when Mike Denbrock explained why the Irish were offering him as an athlete.
“They said they haven’t seen one person do what I can do on both sides of the ball,” said Jackson. “They said there might be another person who could play DB just like me and another who can play receiver just like me, but there isn’t another person in the Class of 2014 who can do both like me.”
For his part, Jackson doesn’t really care if he ends up on offense or defense.
“Wherever I need to be to help the team, that’s probably my preference,” he said.
He told ISD’s Brian Town he was hoping to make his first stop at Notre Dame when he returned to the Midwest this summer to visit family in Illinois.
“I just want to see how the coaches are, the people on the team, see what they’re like,” he said. “I want to see how the community is and things like that. I just want to make sure it’s a great program and a nice atmosphere for me if I decided to go there.”
He recently made visits to junior days at USC and UCLA.
“They were really nice,” he said. “They seemed like nice backgrounds and nice homes. They were just showing me a lot of love.”
He doesn’t have any other trips planned at this point and doesn’t have any leaders, but the Irish are certainly in play.
“Notre Dame is up there,” he said. “They’re up there high.”
Jackson isn’t planning to make a commitment anytime soon and his recruitment could play out all of the way to National Signing Day next year.
“My biggest factor is looking at the depth chart,” he said. “It’s not that I just want to play right away, but I want to be at a place I can compete. I want to compete, earn my spot and show everybody I’m the best.
“The other thing I want to do is make sure the coaching staff is right and the players have the same demeanor and mentality as me as far as going hard. I also want to make sure I could see myself living there after football and academically, find something that’s suitable to me.”
COULD IRISH MAKE SURGE WITH KC?: As we said in last week’s Notebook, the hiring of Tyler McDermott as a graduate assistant can only help Notre Dame in its pursuit of 2014 offensive lineman K.C. McDermott, Tyler’s younger brother. McDermott (pictured) also has a brother who plays at Miami and the Hurricanes and Irish are at the top of his list.
Notre Dame has long been considered the number two school, but the recent addition of his brother to the staff could end up helping the Irish pull ahead in the end. One Florida source - the same who first tipped ISD off to the potential of Mason Cole committing to Michigan last weekend, which he did – now sees McDermott ending up in South Bend.
McDermott has been a fixture at Miami over the last year and some are beginning to wonder why he hasn’t pulled the trigger for the Hurricanes yet, especially with their defense of the NCAA investigation looking as strong as ever.
McDermott is expected to make another unofficial visit to Miami next week, but look for him to schedule another trip to Notre Dame relatively soon as well.
For more on McDermott’s family, check out this Palm Beach Post story by Jeff Greer, which includes a statement from the father about Tyler wanting to be sure he wasn’t only being hired to recruit his younger brother.
IRISH SHOW INTEREST IN HOOPER: Jeff Thomas didn’t play football this past fall, but that didn’t stop Notre Dame from the sending the 2014 athlete an invitation to its Junior Day this month.
The 6-foot-6, 190-pounder from Norwalk High School in Norwalk, Ohio played receiver as a sophomore and was clocked at 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, but decided against playing football this year in order to concentrate on basketball.
Thomas has already collected offers from Miami (Ohio) and Ohio among others for basketball and although he’s honored to receive the attention, he isn’t planning to attend the Irish Junior Day, saying his “heart belongs to basketball.”
JUNIOR DAY ADDITION: Cameron Oshodi is one name to add to the visitor list for this month’s Junior Day.
The 6-foot-2, 280-pounder from Groveport-Madison High School in Groveport, Ohio doesn’t have any offers yet, but is hearing from schools like Toledo, Indiana and West Virginia among others and believes Toledo could be close to offering.
Oshodi doesn’t know much about the Irish at this point, but is looking forward to his trip.
“I can learn about school, and be able to see what the campus is like,” Oshodi said. “I know that it is a great school for football and academics. I want to see something that I have never seen before.”
Oshodi, who said an offer from the Irish would “mean the world” to him, has been told by college coaches that they like his attitude.
“They like my stances and they like the way I fire off the ball and never give up,” he said.
He doesn’t have any favorites and isn’t in a rush to get the process over with.
“I’m looking for a school to help me as a student become successful in life,” he said. “I’m just trying to see what school is best for me.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK: As the Irish sorted out offers to 2014 prospects, they found a 2015 player worthy of an offer in Kentucky running back Damien Harris.
@Damien_D1Harris Just got offered by Notre Dame!! Giving all the thanks to God! #ExtremelyBlessed
