When Chinook middle schooler Jahlen Jack made the trip across the country from Bellevue to Georgia for spring break, he was hoping to see some old friends, spend time with family and enjoy the southern hospitality he became so accustomed to after living there for much of his childhood.
He got all of that, and a little something more.
Jack made headlines around the country last week online as word of a verbal scholarship offer from Vanderbilt University and football coach James Franklin made the rounds on the internet. MaxPreps, which specializes in high school sports coverage, and even Sports Illustrated picked up on the story.
“I was shocked and excited,” Jack said. “I didn’t see it coming at all, but it was an honor.” The offer from Franklin and the Commodores is non-binding and unofficial, but nonetheless flattering for an athlete who has yet to walk at his eight-grade graduation, let alone truly dig into the college recruiting process.
Fielding calls from coaches and gauging their interest will not be a completely foreign concept for Jahlen and his mother LaSonia, after elder brother Myles spent the better part of the past two years being wooed by the nation’s elite before signing with UCLA and head coach Jim Mora.
While his own stock boomed during his junior and senior seasons at Bellevue, Myles said receiving a college offer wasn’t on the radar during his own middle school days.
“That would have been a dream come true for me to get offered by a school,” Myles said. “It’s crazy.”
He added that while Jahlen has a slighter frame (Myles is listed at around 215 pounds by most recruiting publications), his speed and even strength are superior, and his athleticism jumps off the screen in his junior football game film.
“He’s an all-around player,” Myles said. “He’s really raw still and that is something he will work on as he advances.”
Along with his own brother, Jahlen has another elite football prospect to look up to in Stanton Truitt, the son of his mother’s boyfriend back in Georgia.
Truitt, a three-star prospect according to Rivals, has offers from Washington to Florida and according to a story from ESPN received 102 letters, in one sitting, from the University of Tennessee in an attempt to curry favor with the speedster. He is also being courted heavily by Franklin and Vandy, and Jack was along for the trip when he suddenly found himself the focus of the conversation.
Both mother and son know the offer is a two-way street, a nice gesture but little more. If and when Jack becomes a household name on the prep scene, it is likely every school from here to Nashville will be lining up to recruit him to campus, and he will have free rein to choose.
And should Vanderbilt fill their need at his position or were Franklin to move on to coach elsewhere, Jahlen and his mother know there is no guarantee the offer will stand, despite the overture on their visit.
Before he can sit in lecture halls or hit the field in the SEC, Jack knows he has to finish middle school, and then make his mark on Wolverine Way. And no one in the family is scoffing at the notion of football helping open the doors to some of the top schools in the country, even if attending them is five years off.
“Academics are always number one, and sports are just a way to get you there,” LaSonia said. “It is a way to get to a great university, meet new people and get a great degree.”
