Gamecocks after another towering cornerback out of the JUCO ranks
East Mississippi Community College cornerback Khyree Jackson (6-foot-3, 197 pounds) is in high demand. He recently cut his list to a top ten of South Carolina, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Florida State, Maryland, Mississippi State, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Louisville and Oregon. Corners who stand 6-foot-3 who can defend are coveted in today’s football world as a counter to 6-foot-5 and taller receivers. Jackson knows he’s got was secondary coaches wants.
“An example they use a lot, if you throw a fade ball at somebody who is 5-11, if the receiver has one step on him, it looks like the receiver is open,” Jackson said. “But since I’m 6-4, if he’s got one step on me, it still looks like he’s covered. Little things like that. They like my speed, and how I’m not afraid to hit.”
Last season at Fort Scott Community College (Kansas), Jackson had 25 tackles and three interceptions. He transferred because of a coaching change at Fort Scott. The Gamecocks offered earlier this month. Since then, Will Muschamp has been in hot pursuit.
“They’ve been recruiting me about the past month, lately it’s really picked up, I talk to Coach Muschamp every day,” Jackson said. “He’s just telling me basically to keep working and don’t let the corona and stuff stop the grind and all of that. They like my length and my speed, like how I bend my hips and move fluidly. He said as you can see on their resume, JUCO kids come to South Carolina and they come and play, then they get out. He was telling me about some players that came from JUCO.”
Jackson is well aware of the Gamecocks heavy use of junior college talent, and their success in moving several of those players on to the NFL. That will be on his mind as he further ponders his decision.
“South Carolina is definitely going to be on my mind,” Jackson said. “That’s the SEC, the best conference that’s produced a lot of NFL talent. You’ve got to always consider that. Also, just the JUCO talent that they’ve produced. Javon Kinlaw came from a school I played this year. They just let you know that at South Carolina they definitely expect their JUCO kids to come play.”
Jackson, who is from Upper Marlboro, Maryland does want to take his official visits before he makes his decision, and he’s not yet decided on those. He said the virtual visits of this pandemic era won’t be enough for him to settle on a school.
Notes:
▪ Myrtle Beach wide receiver JJ Jones is moving up his commitment date from Aug, 5 to next week. He has cut his list to USC, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi State.
▪ Per Gaffney coach Dan Jones, defensive tackle Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins has told him it will be 2-3 weeks before he makes his commitment. Ingram-Dawkins had planned to announce Sunday then decided to slow down his process. His final six are USC, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida State, Georgia and Penn State.