During a live interview with MLive.com this morning, Saline (MI) rising senior quarterback Joshua Jackson announced that he will attend Virginia Tech, the school he visited for the first time this past Saturday. The 6'1", 203-pound signal caller chose the Hokies over offers from Boston College, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon State, Syracuse, Utah and West Virginia, among others.
In Jackson, Virginia Tech is getting a player who led Saline to a Division 1 regional championship and a runner-up finish in the state last season as a junior. In the regional title victory over Canton, the now future Hokie completed 25-of-31 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed 14 times for 88 yards and two scores in the win. In total in 2014, Jackson completed almost 68-percent of his passes while throwing for 1,858 yards, 19 touchdowns and three interceptions. He rushed for close to 800 yards and 10 scores.
Clarkston linebacker Cole Chewins, whose team captured the 2014 Division 1 state title with a 33-25 win over Saline, spoke highly of Jackson in this article by the Detroit Free Press last November.
"He can run, he's got a good arm, he's an athletic quarterback, he's versatile," Chewins said of Jackson, who threw for 237 yards and rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown in the state championship.
247Sports and Rivals rank Jackson as a 3-star prospect. ESPN.com analyst Gerry Hamilton is very high on Jackson's talents, and ESPN ranks him as a 4-star prospect and the no. 150 overall recruit in the nation in the class of 2016.
Jackson's father, Fred, served as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan from 1992 through 2014. Virginia Tech offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler played for the Wolverines from 1993-1996.
Jackson's decision gives Virginia Tech its first sure-fire signal caller in the class of 2016. Indications are that Hampton (VA) product JoVonn Quillen Jr. likely will get a look at quarterback as well, but he is more of an "athlete" who could easily end up as a defensive back or wide receiver. Brenden Motley, Chris Durkin, Dwayne Lawson and Jackson are the only scholarship quarterbacks projected on Virginia Tech's 2016 season roster.
Overall, Virginia Tech now boasts 10 commitments in the class of 2016.