Tyler Jackson, son of former Dillon player Dean Jackson and grandson of Dillon’s Horace Jackson, got the call from University of South Carolina associate head coach Chad Holbrook before the Gamecocks had even left Omaha, Nebraska.
The Gamecocks were fresh off the victory over Virginia that sent them to the College World Series championship best-of-three series, so Jackson, who was hopeful for an offer, was not expecting it to come so soon. He was told to take an hour or so to think it over, but was on the phone with Holbrook ten minutes later to commit.
Although raised in Piedmont, South Carolina, in a house full of Clemson fans, the Tigers backed off their interest in the right-hander this season, while USC’s interest grew. They first took notice when he threw a three-hit shutout in the Red Bank Invitational early in the season. Clemson scouts said at the time that his fastball wasn’t where it needed to be, but the Gamecocks continued to follow Jackson’s season closely.
He made a good show of it, too, going 8-0 with a 2.00 ERA and 77 strikeouts in his junior season. His team, Wren High School’s Golden Hurricanes, finished with a 21-6 record. He was also named All-State by the South Carolina High School League and by Diamond Prospects. He is scheduled to graduate from Wren in 2012, giving him one more season of high school baseball to continue improving.
Jackson, at 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds, is the 11th recruit in the class of 2012, a class which includes Dillon’s Jamie Callahan, who committed to USC in the fall. He is the fourth right-handed pitcher, joining Callahan, Curt Britt, and Brandon Hester.
Other schools had also been in contact with Jackson, including College of Charleston, Virginia, Virginia Tech, USC Upstate, and Winthrop, but Jackson said after talking with the USC coaches and some of the other 2012 recruits – including Callahan, Michael Roth, Tanner English, and Joey Pankake – that he got a great vibe from the USC program.
After their win at the CWS, Jackson says he is even more excited to play for USC and confident he made the right choice. And, he says, he will definitely be working to improve his 88 mile per hour fastball for when he faces Clemson on the mound.
