As Jahzare Jackson looks back over his improbable journey to Athens to play football for the Bulldogs, he does so with tremendous pride.
“I feel like I’ve made some great progress over the time I’ve been here, with the six months I’ve been here,” Jackson said. “I feel like the development process has been great overall, just with the time spent practicing and individual workouts, and stuff like that. I feel like it’s been great overall.”
Jackson’s tale is not one you’ll see every day.
At 6-foot-10 and 348 pounds, Jackson had not played organized football since middle school. Basketball was his game. It wasn’t just a hobby or something he did for fun.
Born in San Diego, Jackson played on the AAU circuit with Bronny James before taking his talents to Overtime Elite in Atlanta. One of the country’s premiere facilities for developing top basketball talent, OTE has produced such players as former No. 2 pick Rob Dillingham, and No. 33 pick Tyler Smith.
Current UGA basketball player Somto Cyril also played for OTE.
Jackson placed his name into the NBA Draft, but he wasn’t selected.
Although he did have offers to play overseas, Jackson decided – at the behest of family and friends – to give football another try.
Florida State and Florida were interested, but Jackson ultimately took Georgia up on its offer despite not having played football in five years.
Jackson recalled the first day he stepped back on the field.
“It was a very surreal moment for me,” he said. “I was just taking it in at the moment, but it was a great moment for me. I enjoyed it.”
Offensive line coach Stacy Searels said he first learned about Jackson following a phone call with trainer Kevin McAlmont.
“[McAlmont] trains guys in the area and Kevin had called me about him,” Searels recalled. “I said, get him to camp. If you’re going to take a chance on something, this is it. He’s a big athlete, a great kid. But his size is … I’ve never seen anybody this big. He’s learning. It is a big learning curve, but he’s learning, getting better.”
While Jackson still has much to learn, he did play in all 14 games for the Bulldogs as a true freshman. Most of his time was spent on special teams, where coaches used his 6-10 frame well on the punt block team.
He received a handful of offensive reps and will see even more this spring.
“You recruit size; you recruit athleticism,” head coach Kirby Smart said of Jackson last year.
“I feel like I can take this as far as I want to,” Jackson said. “I’ve just got to put in the work, put in the time, the effort, and overall, just keep getting better.”
Although football is now his game, Jackson cherishes the memories he made on the basketball court.
That includes getting to know LeBron James.
“He’s a great person, a great leader,” Jackson said. “He taught us a lot of things over the years.”
He’s also taken great interest in Georgia’s basketball team.
“I’ve had a chance to watch them. It’s a great group of guys,” said Jackson, who admits he occasionally still gets the itch to get on the court.
“You still kind of at times,” Jackson said. “I’m always in tune with the basketball scene, so I’m always watching it. So, it’s never really going away. But I definitely have pivoted my focus from basketball. I’m a football player now.”
