• Jordan Jackson enjoys Indiana visit

  • By Jared Shanker | October 2, 2011 5:02:22 PM PDT
INDIANAPOLIS -- On Friday nights, you can find Decatur Central's Jordan Jackson and Sean Gary sharing the backfield or patrolling the linebacking corps together.On Saturdays, you might find them patrolling the local fisheries on the hunt for bass.Those Fridays and Saturdays together won't last much longer, though, as Gary, a senior, is being recruited as a running back/fullback hybrid, leaving Jackson, a junior, to command the backfield and linebacker corps on his own."J.J. is a big-time linebacker," Decatur Central coach Justin Dixson said. "He's what big-time colleges look for: a ball-hawking tackler with speed and a physical nature."Jackson is drawing interest from mainly Georgia Tech, Iowa, Indiana, Purdue and Ball State, but Michigan State, Missouri, Stanford and UCLA have also been in contact with him.Jackson visited Indiana earlier this season for the Hoosiers' game against Virginia, and even though the Hoosiers lost, Jackson came away impressed."They might not have been the best team on the field but they played to the best of their ability," Jackson said. "They might not have a good record but you can see they're on the rise."Jackson really liked the facilities and weight room and said the coaching staff is keeping a close eye on him.Ball State and Purdue have also received visits from Jackson, too, and he said he has a good relationship with Purdue's coaching staff. He doesn't know much about Georgia Tech or Iowa but said they send him mail every day.As for Gary, this is his first year as the full-time starter after sharing time as a sophomore and junior. Gary averaged more than 10 yards per carry on roughly 50 carries as a junior, and Dixson said Gary would likely be the school's all-time leading rusher had he started all three years. The team needed him more at linebacker during his first two years on varsity, though.Dixson knows a little bit about talented running backs, too. During his tenure as an assistant at Indiana power Warren Central, Dixson coached former Iowa running back Jewel Hampton and Darren Evans, who is on the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad after a strong career at Virginia Tech.Gary is a bit of a tweener and doesn't have the speed to be a top-end Division I back or the size to be a top-end fullback. Western Kentucky has shown the most interest in Gary at this point, and it appears that is his most likely landing spot at this point, according to Dixson."Western Kentucky is looking at me, Valparaiso, too," Gary said. "Coach told me not to worry about it until after the season and stay focused on the season."

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