Transferring UConn freshman forward Vance Jackson took his first visit to Rutgers over the weekend and enjoyed the trip.
“It went well,” his father, Vance Jackson Sr., said by phone. “They see Vance being a big part of the team. They want him to be a guy that can be a huge part of the offense.
“They believe in him and know a lot of his skillset and what he can do.”
The 6-foot-8 Los Angeles native averaged 8.1 points and 3.8 rebounds last season at UConn, but opted to transfer to play a bigger role somewhere else.
He will have three years to play after sitting out the 2017-18 season.
“We enjoyed the trip, it was the first one so we’re just going to weigh the pros and cons to each one,” Jackson Sr. said. “But if he chose them I wouldn’t be upset.”
He added: “They got a good thing going there, they got a good situation. You can see they’re on the rise.”
Jackson will now visit Washington over Mother’s Day Weekend and will also visit Baylor sometime in June. San Diego State is also in the mix.
“We’ll end it out with Baylor somewhere in June but we might do something in between that,” he said.
“San Diego State is trying to tippy toe in and if we have time we might go down there and check them out.”
RUTGERS HOSTS YOUNG LOCAL CREW
Rutgers also hosted a crew of young, local guys, including Jalen Carey ’18, Sherif Kenney’19. Justin Winston’18, Karim Coulibaly’19 and Elijah Everett ’20, via Andrew Slater of 247Sports.com.
Carey recently picked up an offer from Kansas and previously said UConn and Seton Hall were working the hardest.
But Rutgers is trying to get involved with the slew of younger talent around New Jersey.
“I spoke with [Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell] on the phone and he said he trying to get in state stars and get them to the next level,” said John Carey, Jalen’s father.
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Rutgers will host 6-foot-10 Long Beach (Calif.) Polytechnic big man Myles Johnson on Wednesday, per a source.
Photo: Brad Horrigan / Hartford Courant
