Among the talent Florida courted at this year’s Friday Night Lights event was 2014 wide receiver Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson hails from Gardena, California, only an hour drive from Florida linebacker Ronald Powell’s hometown of Moreno Valley.
While Jackson has a bond by birthplace with one current Gator, he got to talk to others, like Vernon Hargreaves and Nick Washington at FNL. He was very receptive to the advice he was given by them about the recruiting process.
“It was nice, basically they were just telling me to be patient with everything and just enjoy everything in life and choose the school that’s right for me. They gave me a lot of tips, I asked them a lot of questions, like what’s the transition like from high school to college. It was nice to learn from someone who just came out of high school,” Jackson said.
Running track in football’s offseason is something very important to Jackson, it’s something he planned on talking to coach Will Muschamp about when he meets with him. Jackson has an established rapport with Florida track coach Mike Holloway, and that friendship is a great thing for the Gators.
“It helps [Florida’s chances] because, if another school tries to push through, I already have a relationship with another coach…it’s just another good chance booster,” Jackson said.
Not only is Jackson a two-sport athlete, but he also hopes to be a two-way athlete on Florida’s football team.
“I want to know about [Loucheiz] Purifoy, I know that he does both ways. I like that, I fit in with that right there,” Jackson said.
Jackson’s favorite part of FNL was watching people compete, he didn’t participate himself. He was also more than happy to have some fun on Twitter after FNL concluded:
40 time? — Blazing http://t.co/2TiSqBCE9o
— LAVISH SWEET PEA (@AdoreeKnows) July 27, 2013
Seen you talking to Vernon Hargreaves , hope y’all play together in the swamp — We’ll lock it up http://t.co/6XpmYKxSK3
— LAVISH SWEET PEA (@AdoreeKnows) July 27, 2013
What were the UF players you talked to at FNL like? — They were all cool .. Great guys http://t.co/B63xIqpPex
— LAVISH SWEET PEA (@AdoreeKnows) July 27, 2013
Did FNL help the gators at all? — Yeah it did http://t.co/Bcw4y1TIOY
— LAVISH SWEET PEA (@AdoreeKnows) July 27, 2013
FNL was Dope !!
— LAVISH SWEET PEA (@AdoreeKnows) July 27, 2013