Orchard Lake St. Mary's standout football player Jalen Watts-Jackson (red uniform) tackles his future college rival, Warren De La Salle's Shane Morris (Michigan), in a CHSL regular-season showdown last fall. Watts-Jackson committed to Michigan State this week. (Photo courtesy of The Oakland Press)
ORCHARD LAKE ? Rock-n-Roll legend Tom Petty once sang, ?The waiting is the hardest part.?For Orchard Lake St. Mary?s football star Jalen Watts-Jackson, now it?s over.
Up until this week, Watts-Jackson had been waiting patiently for a college scholarship offer from Michigan State.
The second he got it, he jumped on it.
Watts-Jackson, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound cornerback-wide receiver going into his senior year in the fall and one of the area?s top recruits on the prep gridiron, committed to Michigan State Wednesday afternoon, ending his recruitment early with his top choice in his back pocket.
?I?d been looking for that Michigan State offer for a long time and when it finally came I knew it was the end of my decision-making on where to play at the next level,? he said. ?Ever since the whole recruiting process got underway I was hoping that the Spartans would come calling. I?m really appreciative that they did and I?m headed to East Lansing for college.?
With Watts-Jackson now on board, Michigan State has 10 players in its 2014 recruiting class. A starter on both sides of the ball at St. Mary?s since he was a sophomore, Watts-Jackson is expected to line-up in the secondary with the Spartans.
?The entire program at Michigan State, all the way down from the coaching staff to the players made me feel wanted, part of the family, from the second they started recruiting me,? he said. ?It?s the ideal environment I?m looking for in a future home for myself. I can?t wait to get there.?
Also holding offers from Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Idaho, Watts-Jackson would have probably ended up snatching additional suitors if he would have kept himself on the market. So far this offseason, he?s been turning heads in 7-on-7s and across the showcase-camp and combine circuit with his quickness, hard-working attitude, natural instinct and intelligence on the field.
His high school squad at St. Mary?s is prepared for another banner campaign in 2013, ready to defend its Catholic League crown and try to make its sixth appearance ? fifth in a row ? in the Division 3 state championship game in the past seven years.
As a sophomore, Watts-Jackson picked up a state-title ring, helping the Eaglets decimate Mt. Pleasant 45-7 in the state finals. Last fall, St. Mary?s lost in overtime in the state championship game to Grand Rapids Christian and Watts-Jackson?s future rival in the Big 10 at the University of Michigan, Drake Harris, the state?s top recruited offensive player (wide receiver) in the Class of 2014.
Watts-Jackson is determined to make the most of his remaining time as a prepster.
?I want to make this final year one to remember and the type of football season that can really set the tone for a great college career,? he said.
During the winter, Watts-Jackson has been an ace defensive-stopper for St. Mary?s basketball team the past two seasons, advancing into the Class A quarterfinals with the Eaglets as a sophomore in 2012.
Last Updated: 6/19/2013 10:53:15 PM EST
Source: http://miprepzone.com/oakland/results.asp?ID=10468
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