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WR James Jackson (transfer to Wayne State)

Looking at the spring roster passed out yesterday, there are three names not on the list: tight end Nic DiLillo, receiver James Jackson and defensive end Keith Wells.

DiLillo was left off the 105-man training camp roster last year, which is virtually unprecedented for a scholarship player with no known disciplinary problems. It seems that this year, he got the message.

Jackson is a mystery. This would have been his best chance to make a mark, with OSU so thin at receiver.

http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/2011/03/leftovers_from_a_big_media_mea.shtml
 
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UPDATE on James Jackson and Nic DiLillo...
By BCast on 17:56:42 03/31/11

Ohio State spokesperson confirmed to me that both Nic DiLillo and James Jackson have left the football team. Unlike last fall, DiLillo WILL NOT be returning to the team.

Jackson is actually still enrolled at Ohio State and considering whether to transfer or run track in the spring.

http://forums.the-ozone.net/messages/962011.html

An Ohio State spokesperson confirmed with receiver James Jackson and tight end Nic DeLillo are no longer with the team.

http://www.cleveland.com/buckeyeblog/index.ssf/2011/03/ohio_states_first_spring_pract.html
 
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Posted: Apr 23, 2011
James Jackson To Transfer From Ohio State
Former Grand Ledge standout will transfer to Grand Valley.
Reporter: Jeremy Sampson

After 2 years in Columbus James Jackson is leaving the Ohio State football program his high school head coach Matt Bird confirmed to WILX on Saturday. Jackson will enroll at Division 2 Grand Valley in June and will have 3 years of eligibility remaining. The former all-state receiver appeared in the Eastern Michigan game last season for the Buckeyes but was never able to find consistent playing time.

http://www.wilx.com/sports/headlines/Jasmes_Jackson_To_Transfer_From_Ohio_State__120548179.html
 
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This article quotes Jackson as saying that JT asked him to transfer because tOSU needed to free up scholarships.

Placed here for tracking purposes. General discussion should take place in the oversigning thread.

CBS

HARTFORD, Conn. -- James Jackson assumed that when he was offered a full football scholarship to Ohio State it meant that as long as he stayed out of trouble and kept up with his school work, the university would pay for his education for four years.
He later discovered, that's not always how it works.

Jackson, a wide receiver, says he was asked to transfer after last season, two years into his college career.

"They had an oversigning issue," Jackson said. "They had to free up a few scholarships, and coach [Jim] Tressel told me I probably wouldn't play and maybe Ohio State wasn't the place for me."

Jackson said he didn't understand when he was being recruited that all scholarships are only good for a year, subject to renewal at the discretion of the school. He was never told that he might be asked to transfer if he wasn't performing up to expectations and the school wanted his scholarship for someone else.

In response to cases similar to Jackson's, California and Connecticut have passed legislation that will require colleges in those states to disclose the fine print of athletic scholarships to student athletes.

Connecticut's law, which passed the state House by a vote of 140-3 and was unanimously approved by the Senate, will take effect on July 1. California's, signed into law in 2010, will be fully implemented in 2012. Other states are considering similar legislation.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith denies the school forced Jackson to transfer.

"Our policy is as James Jackson stated: As long as a student-athlete maintains his/her academic standing, behaves appropriately, and handles his/her responsibilities, he or she will retain their scholarship. We have no proof of any conversation between he and former head coach Jim Tressel," he said in a statement to the Associated Press.
...
Quinnipiac University basketball coach Tom Moore said he doesn't believe the law will lead to many changes in the recruiting process. His school, and all others that he knows of, already make the details of scholarships available to recruits and their families, he said. And most families, he said, are savvy enough to ask the right questions anyhow.

He said while there is a perception that schools sometimes run off athletes to give a scholarship to a better player, more often the decision to transfer is initiated by the player, not the coach.

"With each passing generation of kids, you are getting kids who are less driven to work through things," Moore said. "You get a lot of kids who come in expecting success, without realizing the work you have to put in to achieve success. That's sometimes where the conflict comes in."

But Jackson said if he had known then what he knows now, he would not have gone to Ohio State, and believes disclosure laws can help others avoid similar mistakes.

"My main goal coming out of high school was to get a degree from a Division I program," said Jackson, who now attends Wayne State, a Division II school in Michigan. "If I had known they wouldn't keep me in school for four to five years, no matter what, I would have gone somewhere else.

"I don't necessarily feel used, and maybe coach Tressel was right, maybe Ohio State wasn't right for me," he said. "But this would have helped me out by maybe knowing that before."

Cont'd ...
 
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I think that yanking a kid's scholarship merely because he hasn't and likely won't play is among the most despicable acts committed by coaching staffs at big-time college football programs.

That said, I'm left scratching my head by the insinuation in this article that Ohio State did just that. Jackson only says that Tressel told him Ohio State may not be the best place for him, given that it didn't look like he'd be playing now or in the future. There's a big difference between being honest with a scholarship athlete about the prospect of future playing time, leaving the decision of whether to stay or transfer to the athlete's informed judgment, and actually pulling a scholarship because the player likely won't contribute on Saturdays. The former is fine and arguably the best course of action; the latter is pretty shitty.

But hey, it's chic to pour on OSU right now. Believe me, I'm in no mood to defend Tressel at this moment in time, but this article seems clearly unjustified unless there's more to the story than is being reported.
 
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buckeyesin07;1945186; said:
I can name a lot of kids who retained their scholarships for 4 or 5 years under Tressel despite the fact that they never were able to crack the 2-deep at OSU.

That said, best of luck to James at GVSU.
That's why I'm quite puzzled as well... and that's why I don't buy this story.
 
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Plus, I think we were way under our numbers, so the overdubbing angle doesn't seem to click.
Or the fact that JT routinely gave scholarships to walk-ons each year. If it was a numbers game, I think I know which practice cease (give walk-ons schollies vs. forcing one out).

Although, there is no doubt that this situation does occur on a yearly basis. I'm pretty sure others (osugrad) attested for the fact that certain players are given a breakdown of their placement within the program and given options based on those evaluations. Some take off when told the truth, others stick around because they're OK with their situation. Seems straight-forward to me.
 
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OHSportsFan9;1945195; said:
Although, there is no doubt that this situation does occur on a yearly basis. I'm pretty sure others (osugrad) attested for the fact that certain players are given a breakdown of their placement within the program and given options based on those evaluations. Some take off when told the truth, others stick around because they're OK with their situation. Seems straight-forward to me.
Taking a look a things, this might've been what happened, and Jackson may have interpeted it as he did.
 
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