The Syracuse athletic department will be getting more than it originally bargained for from one of its incoming transfers.
A couple of days after leaving Michigan State in January of this year, wide receiver Trishton Jackson used social media to announce his transfer to Syracuse. As a non-graduate transfer, Jackson will have to sit out the 2018 football season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.
The 2018-19 basketball season might be another matter entirely, though, as Jackson confirmed to the Syracuse Post-Standard that he has already started the process that would allow him to walk on to the Orange men’s hoops team. While Jackson hasn’t personally discussed the situation with head football coach Dino Babers, a fairly powerful intermediary, legendary men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim, has already gotten the all clear for a two-sport run.
“I didn’t even get a chance to tell [Babers] from my mouth. The basketball staff ended up asking him. I kept telling them I was too scared to ask him,” Jackson said. “They ended up asking him for me and they said he said it was OK to do. I haven’t really talked to him about it yet. He’s always joking around with me about basketball so I think he’s pretty cool with it.”
That said, there are still some details that will need to be ironed out if he is to play hoops this coming season. From the Post-Standard:... Since he was not recruited by either Michigan State or Syracuse to play basketball and never played a minute of college basketball at MSU, he would appear to be eligible to play basketball. (We are checking to see if that’s the case.) Jackson said he has already started football workouts. Training camp starts next month.
“We still haven’t really sat down and talked about a plan so I can do both,” Jackson said. “I know I’m ineligible for football this year. I still gotta sit down and talk to (Babers) about the summer plan as far as workouts, starting camp, to see if I can do both. But both of them gave me the OK that I can. I just have to fit my schedule.
The 6-1, 183-pound Jackson was a high school point guard in Michigan who earned honorable mention all-state honors his junior and senior seasons. He also played AAU basketball.
In football, Jackson was a four-star 2016 signee who 247Sports.com rated as the No. 44 receiver on its composite board. In 21 games (four starts) with the Spartans over two seasons, Jackson caught 17 passes for 222 yards and a touchdown.
