St. Benedict’s Prep guard Tamir Jackson has chosen a school — again.
“I committed to Rice,” he said. “It’s a great academic school. I get the chance to play right away, play 30 minutes or more as a freshman.
“They said I’m going to come in there and play the one most of the time, and also play off guard.”
Jackson, a native of Paterson, N.J., chose Rice over Harvard, Penn, South Carolina and Virginia Tech. He had previously verballed to UAB in July, but changed his mind because he felt the staff had not remained in touch with him.
“I’m glad it’s over with it,” Jackson said. “My goal this year is to be undefeated (with St. Benedict’s) and be the No. 1 team in the country.”
The 6-foot-2, 182-pound Jackson said he spoke with former NBA guard Ron Harper, who told him, “Wherever you go, it doesn’t matter about the big-name schools. Wherever you go, people will find you if you put up numbers.”
Jackson visited Rice in early September and said he enjoyed it.
“It was great. I liked it a lot,” he said.
Jackson averaged 14 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists for a St. Benedict’s team that finished 24-1 and ranked No. 2 in the nation behind St. Anthony of Jersey City in several major national polls.
He dropped 29 points on Brandon Jennings and Oak Hill Academy, then No. 1 in the nation, last December in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
“He’s the one that killed us tonight,” Jennings said that night. “He hit open 3’s when it counted, and that’s one of the reasons why they won.”
