Texas Hoop article on Jackson and Muse

OldTimer · November 9, 2005

On Wednesday, the University of North Texas will get their recruiting class off to a fast start when they get their signed letter-of-intents from a couple of JC transfers. The Mean Green will bolster their frontcourt by adding Mineral Area (MO) College products Curtis Muse and Jonathan Jackson. For Jackson, a 6-foot-10 forward originally from the Pacific Northwest, the choice was simple. He had other options and offers, but was sold on UNT right after making the trip to see Denton.

"After I visited there, I didn't need to see anywhere else," Jackson said. "They had everything that I need and I wanted to be a part of their program. I like the coaching staff - they make me feel comfortable. The team chemistry is great too."

Jackson chose UNT over schools such as Utah State and UNLV, and who knows what might have turned up for the forward in the spring had he waited. But Jackson decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on a commitment, ending what has been a long trek (high school in Washington and Oregon and a redshirt year at Eastern Washington) on hiw way to Division I basketball. He's ready to contribute immediately at UNT.

"I'm a whole lot more versatile than before," Jackson said. "I was always able to do the things like I do now, but in high school I was put on the block because of my height. But I can shoot the ball - that's one reason why (UNT) wanted me. I'll play at the four and play outside a lot."

Joining Jackson in Denton will be good friend Muse, who was getting some high-major bites. But the duo had already made a choice going into the recruiting process, and both felt that UNT was the right fit. "We decided that we wanted to go to school together," Jackson said. "There were some other ones looking at us, but after our visit (to UNT) we just didn't care about the rest of them anymore."

Edited November 9, 2005 by OldTimer

Zeke · November 9, 2005

Man, that is great to hear. Sounds like they really enjoyed the trip.

UNTSportsGuy · November 9, 2005

I believe that they came down the weekend of the Tulsa game, maybe it was the large crowd that did it for them .

Zeke · November 9, 2005

Certainly couldn't have hurt. Seems like I remember some football recruits mentioning they signed with us after seeing the bball team beat A$M several years ago.