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Mizzou spent some time at the Nike Peach Jam watching the King James Shooting Stars, the NE Ohio AAU squad sponsored by LeBron James, and found something they liked. Mizzou coaches saw enough from Willie Jackson to offer him a scholarship. Jackson seems to fit a bit more in the mold of what Rob Fulford and Kim Anderson have stated they're looking for, middle of America, high potential plus athlete that at this stage looks to be a little under recruited.
Hearing from a source that Garfield Heights F Willie Jackson has added a Missouri offer
— David Cassilo (@dcassilo) July 12, 2015
Missouri is the latest to offer @KingJamesAAU 2016 SF Willie Jackson http://t.co/bsCuBy6fY4 #Mizzou @ny2lasports
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) July 12, 2015
Willie Jackson, 6-6, 215, 3-star SF, Garfield Heights, Cleveland, OH
The Lowdown: I'm gathering all the information I can find on Jackson. But from what I've seen he's a high ceiling athlete that has great shoulders and long arms (things that are pretty important when you're recruiting for a wing player), and the ability to attack off the dribble. His jumpshot looks ok and could certainly use a little polish, but he's got a nice high release which could develop as he matures. We've talked about what MIzzou is looking for in the 2016 class and a scoring wing is high up on the list after their top priority which is a post player.
I'm not sure where Jackson will fall on the priority list, but I would think he comes after a few other guys just on the wing. Tyler Cook is still Mizzou's top priority in the post, but on the wing Mizzou has offered a lot of players like Curtis Jones and Eric Hester, and are recruiting wings like Xavier Sneed, Kameron McGusty and De'Riante Jenkins. So for Mizzou to offer Jackson before offering McGusty and Jenkins is interesting. They obviously feel they can get in better with Jackson.
The 3-star prospect boasts offers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State and SMU with Wisconsin being the apparent leader at the moment. With Bo Ryan already announcing his retirement, it will be interesting to see if Wiscy recruits start to open up more towards other schools, and if Jackson thinks Mizzou may be a better landing spot.