Jeffcoat shines at Center Stage
By Frank Burlison, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/24/2009 10:29:52 PM PDT
LAS VEGAS - The athlete purported by many recruiting analysts to be the best high school football defensive end in the country was busily engaged in his second favorite sport Friday night.
Jackson Jeffcoat is the target of just about every major college football power in the country.
But the 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior-to-be in Plano West High in Dallas played the role of a heck of a power forward for the Dallas Heroes while leading them to a 69-62 victory over a short-handed Mater Dei team in a pool-play game of the Center Stage boys' basketball tournament at UNLV.
Jeffcoat, whose father, Jim, was a standout defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, had 16 points and 10 rebounds against a Mater Dei team that was playing without its two best players (Tyler Lamb and Gary Franklin, who are playing for the California Supreme team that is competing in the Reebok Tournament at Foothill High in Henderson).
His is a name that football followers of USC and UCLA should soon be well aware of, if they aren't already.
Jeffcoat (accompanied by his father) attended USC's Rising Stars Camp last month along with a lot of other high-level recruiting targets of Coach Pete Carroll.
But the affable Jeffcoat, who bares a striking facial and physical resemblance to the Baltimore Ravens' Ray Lewis ("I hear that all of the time," he said, smiling) insisted that his participation in the camp shouldn't be looked upon a guarantee of things to come.
"I had a great time at USC and we were able to meet all of the coaches and get a feel for the campus and area," he said after the game.
"But we also had a chance to visit UCLA on the same trip."
Unlike a lot of his other heavily recruited peers across the country, Jeffcoat seems in no rush to make a college decision.
"I'll sit down with my dad pretty soon and start talking about it (recruiting)," he said.
"But I've haven't cut my list (of potential schools) or anything like that."
His twin sister, Jacqueline, is also quite the hoopster.
She has already committed to signing a basketball letter of intent with the Oklahoma Sooners in November.
But OU football Coach Bob Stoops hasn't gained a great "in" because of his sister's decision.
"No," he said, smiling again, "there is no kind of `package deal' at all."