Tigers Land Sixth Commitment

Clemson lands one of the top kickers in the southeast in Riverside's Richard Jackson.

K Richard Jackson
5-11, 180
Riverside High School
Greer, South Carolina

Richard Jackson waited long enough.

After receiving scholarship offers from schools like Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, and Clemson, the upstate South Carolina native finally came to a decision Friday evening.

"It's Clemson," Jackson said. "I've been around Clemson and this area my entire life. My heart said that's where I should be."

Jackson is now the sixth confirmed verbal commitment for the Tigers in the 2006 recruiting class, and he is also the second commitment from Riverside High School. Clemson has also received a commitment from Riverside QB Michael Wade.

Clemson has not signed a kicker since the 2003 recruiting class, when Greenwood native Jad Dean inked is Letter of Intent with the Tigers.

Jackson, who will likely redshirt his freshman year (2006), is expected to compete as both a punter and placekicker for Clemson. As a junior, he connected on 8-of-11 field goals with a long of 50-yards.

Jackson also projects as a full qualifier with a GPA over 3.5 to go along with a qualifying test score. He was recruited to Clemson by recruiting coordinator David Blackwell.

In recent weeks, Jackson had told CUTigers.com that he was down to three schools: Clemson, LSU, and Georgia. He then narrowed his list to two schools: Clemson and LSU before deciding to commit to Clemson earlier today.

CUTigers.com will have more on Jackson's commitment on Saturday.