Top Arkansas receiver: "We linked pretty much instantly"
When new UK receivers coach Michael Smith signed a contract to join Mark Stoops' staff in Lexington, many of his recruiting contacts in Louisiana carried over as relevant to the job he now occupies. After all, Arkansas and Kentucky frequently recruit the same type of player, and Stoops is intent on allowing him to recruit Louisiana.
But Smith isn't only going to be recruiting in Louisiana.
His offer to Jadon Jackson is proof enough of that.
Jackson is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound receiver from Bentonville (Ark.) West, a high three-star prospect and the No. 5 player in the state of Arkansas. He'll be under consideration for a four-star ranking depending on how spring football and the summer camp evaluation season go.
Recently Jackson landed an offer from Kentucky. Not surprisingly, he confirmed to Cats Illustrated that Smith, formerly the receivers coach at Arkansas, his home state school, is the coach who is recruiting him from the Wildcats' staff.
"I met him on my first visit (to Arkansas)," Jackson told Cats Illustrated.
On his relationship with Smith: "(It's) a pretty good one. We linked pretty much instantly."
Having his area recruiter as his position coach might be a help that makes Kentucky more attractive, but the next step in any relationship with the Cats would need to be a visit to Lexington.
However, Jackson only told Cats Illustrated that he "may" visit Kentucky and he's not sure if that will happen yet.
Jackson's early offers are from Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Tulsa, in addition to Kentucky.
