Most scouts weren’t very familiar with Demetrius Jackson before this spring but the lead guard impressed national and regional scouts with his attacking style of play and athleticism. Jackson burst onto the scene at the Spiece Run ‘n Slam and played very well at Michigan’s Elite Camp earlier this June.
Jackson didn’t receive an offer on June 15th but knew he was close. Michigan head coach John Beilein extended that scholarship offer this afternoon while Jackson was on campus for an unofficial visit. He found time afterward to discuss the visit, his offer and his future plans.
So Michigan offered you a scholarship today? Yes sir.
That’s your second offer, what was your reaction? I was just really excited and really thankful. I felt like I was blessed.
Tell me about your visit. What did you do? Who did you talk to? We spent the day with all of the assistant coaches and we toured the campus, saw the academic center and we had a little slideshow about the new renovations that are being done at Michigan. Overall it was really great. It was really fun to hang out with the coaches and everything, especially coach Bacari. He’s a real funny guy.
Did anything in particular stand out? The energy. It was just really fun and I kept a smile on my face the entire time.
Did you talk to Coach Beilein as well? Yes sir. We talked about academics, the new renovations, everything. He was with us throughout most of the day so he was really a part of the whole scheme.
Did you have a chance to play with the team at all? Yeah I did. It went really well, Glenn Robinson was also there and it was really fun playing with the players.
How would you fit in the Michigan offense? I know they really emphasize guard play so, me being a point guard it would be a big opportunity to be a successful guard there. They also stress their development and, to me, I just want to develop as a player so that’s a big factor.
What other visits have you taken recently? Tuesday I was at Indiana, last week I was at Michigan State and our team went to the Xavier’s team camp the week before that.
How would you compare your Michigan visits to others that you’ve taken? I’m always happy that colleges want to have me and my family up for the visits and everything, but this Michigan visit it was really something special. It was really nice, I really enjoyed it and my brother and my mom did too.
Do you have any timeframe for making a decision? I just want to go at my own speed. I need to think about all of this because this is the most important decision I’ll make in my life. So I just want to take my time and go at my own speed. This is a decision I don’t want to regret. I don’t really have a timeline, maybe after junior year or so, but right now I just want to keep developing as a player and keep getting better.
Do any schools stand out at this point in the process? I’m wide open right now. I have some really good relationships with certain coaches and that stands out, but right now I’m wide open.
Are you still playing with MBA this July? Yes sir.
What do you want to prove to coaches this July? Just to continue doing what I’m doing and show how hard I’ve been working in the gym – how much effort I’ve been putting into this – just show those things and be a good player, teammate and leader.
