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Cibolo Steele defensive end Mark Jackson will head north of the Red River for his college football, as the longtime Texas A&M Aggies pledge flipped to the Oklahoma Sooners on Monday after an official visit to Norman over the weekend. Billy Luicci of TexAgs first broke the news about an hour ahead of Jackson's planned announcement and the San Antonio Express-News confirmed it with Jackson.
I'm officially committed to The University of Oklahoma #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/Ko0UbOrwwS
— MJ (@Jackson111998) February 1, 2016
"I needed somewhere where I could not only play football, but be a better student, and I think OU (Oklahoma is it," Jackson said.
Jackson also mentioned the environment at Oklahoma and the program's stability as major appeals.
A 2016 US Army All-American, Jackson originally pledged to the Aggies at the end of last May as head coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff managed to edge out the Oklahoma Sooners and finish ahead of the Longhorns.
However, Jackson showed some openness late in the process, tripping to Austin on the big visit weekend in mid-January and then returning the next Friday before making his official visit to College Station, where star defensive ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall let him know that he would have next there.
Aside from the late push from the two star A&M defensive ends, Jackson also had a good relationship with 2016 defensive end commit Justin Madubuike that Oklahoma was able to overcome, as there was a significant amount of positive buzz for the Sooners coming out of the weekend and three Oklahoma predictions sent in to Jackson's 247Sports Crystal Ball on Monday:
Hearing #Oklahoma helped their chances greatly with #ESPN300 DE & #Gigem commit Mark Jackson this weekend. Nice A&M, OU & UT battle here
— Gerry Hamilton (@HamiltonESPN) February 1, 2016
Like a few others, I'm hearing good things for the #Sooners on where things stand with 2016 TX OLB, Mark Jackson.
— Super K (@SuperK_TFB) February 1, 2016
Ultimately, that buzz proved accurate, news that will force Texas to face off against Jackson in the Cotton Bowl during the coming years.
A consensus four-star prospect, Jackson is the No. 200 player overall, the No. 14 weakside defensive end, and the No. 32 player in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He held 12 offers during his recruitment, including invitations to play at Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and UCLA.
The other major Fox end target for Texas, LSU commit Erick Fowler, was also on campus in mid-January and may wait until Wednesday to make a final decision between the Tigers and Longhorns.