2023 WVU Commit Josiah Jackson Closes Recruitment After Official Visit

Josiah Jackson has closed his recruiting following his official visit to West Virginia. That may not sound like a big deal for a player who has been committed to the school since March, but in today’s recruiting cycle a commitment isn’t truly official until pen meets paper and the player is signed on National Signing Day.

Jackson closing his recruitment means there’s almost no chance he can be flipped, like what recently happened to West Virginia when 2023 defensive back Cameron Calhoun de-committed following a visit he took to Cincinnati approximately a week ago.

“After my visit to West Virginia this weekend,” said Jackson, “I’m closing my recruitment for good.”

Jackson closing his recruiting means he will not take anymore official visits, as he told WV Sports Now. The chance of flipping a recruit usually comes during those official visits, so the fact that Jackson won’t be taking any more following his West Virginia official visit this past weekend is great news for the program. Jackson received 21 total offers during his recruitment, but told West Virginia Sports Now that Cincinnati, Indiana, Maryland and Vanderbilt were the other four schools he strongly considered during his recruitment.

“I chose West Virginia mainly off the fact that it is a great fit for me,” said Jackson. “Basically, the coaching staff, I’ve been a big priority for them, to that coaching staff and this team, for awhile now. So that was a big appreciation. Also, all my family loved it and they feel that I’d be the best player off the field and on the field at West Virginia University.”

“The visit went good,” said Jackson. “Just getting to experience being around a lot of the guys on the team. I got to meet all the coaches and just being with all the coaches for three days, overall it was fun.”

Obviously the official visit went well if Jackson is closing his recruitment. Jackson mentioned the food as his favorite thing from the official visit. According to him, the players ate steaks at midfield of Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium. He mentioned Kegler’s and Varsity Club as two places that he ate at while he was on his visit. He didn’t remember the place that served them the steaks on the field while at Neal Brown’s house the players were served chicken tenders, burgers, macaroni and other cook-out style foods. Jackson said the best thing there were the chicken tenders.

“This probably won’t be everybody’s, but my favorite part of the visit was the food,” said Jackson. “The food was amazing. Just knowing that there were a lot of places to out there to eat at, with great food, it’s great.”

Jackson plans on enrolling early at West Virginia with a major in Sport Management. He isn’t fully committed to the idea. When committing to a power-five school, obviously the NFL is usually the ideal career path. Jackson said that if the NFL didn’t come calling when he was graduating, then a career in the sport management field, such as sports broadcasting.