Naperville Central's Jackson confirms Minnesota is his pick

Sam Jackson is back on board with Minnesota.

A few months after decommitting from the Big Ten football program, Naperville Central's junior quarterback on Wednesday announced he was recommitted to the Gophers. Jackson had been drawing immense interest from other schools but ultimately appreciated the loyalty from Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck and his staff.

"They've been loyal to me from Day One," Jackson said. "They never lost interest in me."

Jackson was offered by Minnesota after finishing his freshman season at Bolingbrook. He committed after his sophomore year at Naperville Central but then decommitted and opened up his recruiting.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Jackson began attracting nationwide recruiting attention. He received nearly 20 scholarship offers, including from most of the Big Ten and Notre Dame. He visited Illinois, Iowa, Notre Dame, Penn State, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Western Michigan and Wisconsin in addition to Minnesota.

He planned to visit more schools this spring until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down his travel options.

"I had planned on taking a decent amount of visits," he said. "It was kind of frustrating not to be able to see more schools."

Jackson, who threw for 1,726 yards and 16 touchdowns in the fall, admits it was tempting to commit to another school. Even as the other offers flooded in, though, Minnesota stayed at the front of his mind.

"The connection I have with the school is off the charts," Jackson said. "They've just shown me so much love since the start."

Twitter: @kevin_schmit