Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/86484
Irish Get Commitment From Top Target BY WES MORGAN I when it comes to the world of recruit- ing. Demetrius Jackson liked the bag, danced around it for a year and finally climbed in Sept. 27, making the Notre Dame men's basketball team — which t's never in the bag until it's in the bag — a cliché that is particularly true COMMITMENT PROFILE DEMETRIUS JACKSON worked tirelessly on the local four-star prospect since 2010 — extremely happy. It came down to Notre Dame and Il- linois for the class of 2013 point guard, who is ranked as the No. 57 recruit na- tionally, the 10th-best point guard in the country and the No. 3 overall player in Indiana by 247Sports. In the end, the 6-2, 185-pound floor general from Mishawaka (Ind.) Marian High, who developed his game in the shadow of the Golden Dome, opted for the famil- iarity of home. The Irish staff didn't let the playmaker 247Sports rates Jackson — who picked Notre Dame over Illinois — as a four-star recruit, the No. 10 point guard in the country and the No. 57 over- all prospect in the class of 2013. PHOTO BY JASON SAPP slip away, even when Jackson's offer list continued to grow, including a strong push from the Illini down the stretch. Jackson also had scholarship offers from Butler, Florida State, Kansas, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State and Xavier. Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey closed the deal when Jackson officially visited Sept. 22 for the Michigan-Notre Dame football game. "It was difficult just trying to distin- guish the difference between the two programs," Jackson admitted. "They both had great opportunities for me and great things to offer. I feel like Notre Dame had the best of both worlds. "I know that Notre Dame will prepare me for life after college." Jackson's commitment sets up the Fighting Irish for life after Eric Atkins, who will exhaust his eligibility with the 2013-14 campaign. Instead of seeing the floor early and often as a freshman at