Fresh on the heels of announcing his top 10 schools this weekend, three-star defensive end Robert Jackson has now entered the next phase of his recruitment.

And that UVa, which offered very recently, made the cut says a lot about how the Keystone State product feels about the Cavaliers.

On Sunday Jackson, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound end, trimmed his list to Arizona State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Nebraska, Pitt, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, UVa, and Virginia Tech.

When he talked to CavsCorner prior to the cut, he said the recent offer from the Hoos was a little bit of a surprise.

“Like, two days before,” he said of when he first talked to UVa. “I had heard from them one time but it wasn’t anything crazy. Next thing I knew, they wanted to offer.”

For the Archbishop Wood Catholic standout, that’s been the way it’s been at times during his recruitment, where schools come in and waste little time before extending the offer.

“With some of them, yeah that’s how it is,” he said. “But with some coaches, it takes time for them and for it to develop into an offer.”

Led by assistant coach Ricky Brumfield, Virginia came through quickly and offered not only a scholarship but a unique situation.

“He was just telling me how much they really liked my film,” Jackson recalled. “They like the idea of me playing tight end over there too, in addition to defensive end. So he was just telling me that with my size and just the fact that I played the one year of football how much potential I could have.”

The fact that UVa offered both opportunities with an emphasis on TE made the Hoos different.

“Most schools are saying defensive end,” he said. “Virginia is one of like two that has talked to me about playing on the offensive side. I’ve never played on the offensive side of the ball but I really love defensive end, just getting after the quarterback.”

Part of that could simply be because of his relative lack of experience on the gridiron. To this point, he’s only played the one season.

“I’ve been wanting to play since my freshman year,” Jackson explained. “But my parents didn’t feel comfortable with it just yet. Then, before my junior year, I just thought it would be good for me to play and it would be a fun experience.”

That might explain too why the whole recruiting thing is still a different ride for him.

“It was a crazy experience just off the simple fact that I had played for a year only,” he said. “I was still so new to it, so it was crazy to get those.”

Growing accustomed to the recruiting process was much like the experience of getting accustomed to playing.

“My first three games, it was pretty new to me,” he said. “Just the whole thing, the physicality of things. I was a basketball player and everything, so I had to get used to that. But after the first two or three games I definitely got used to it. It was a great feeling and I started to love it.”

So far, though, the process has been pretty fun.

“I feel like I’ve been handling it fine,” he said. “It’s definitely been a new experience, talking to all of these new people and different people from all of these different places in the world. But I feel like I’ve been handling it really well.”

“For me, I like it,” Jackson added. “It’s different but I’ve liked it.”

So as he goes about choosing between those 10 ahead of his July 27th announcement, what is going to matter?

“Mostly just the environment on and off the field,” Jackson said. “And my connection with the coaches too, my connections with my teammates and the guys I’ll be playing with. And then the background of the school and where I’ll be playing.”

He’s done a lot of virtual visits that will help him if he doesn’t get to take any other unofficials.

“I’ve done a lot,” he said of the virtual visits. “Some have been with my family, some have been just with my coaches. I was actually able to check out Rutgers and Temple before corona happened. But the virtual stuff has been good. I’m still deciding on taking them.

“We’ve mostly been trying to keep an open mind,” Jackson added. “If things open back up, then we want to take a couple visits before we decide but if not then I’ll probably decide [without them].”

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