A decision to allow Arkansas State to recruit a former Boise State defensive back was made after vetting from school administration and its legal counsel, Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said Wednesday.
Among ASU's 27 announced signees Wednesday was defensive back Darreon Jackson, a Derby, Kan., native who played last season at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. Jackson originally signed at Boise State, but he was suspended for a year after an investigation by the school into a sexual assault allegation, according to a report in the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
No criminal charges were filed. Jackson appealed his suspension and had it reduced to one semester, while two other Boise State players were expelled from the school as a result of the same investigation, the newspaper reported. The Kansas City Star reported Jackson committed last month to Kansas, but the school later removed him from its list of recruited players.
"I can't speak on why they decided not to," Mohajir said. "All I know is, we did a thorough vetting process and did countless interviews and talked to the student and talked to his dad, and we felt like he is absolutely a person that we would like to come play football here.
"We take it very seriously, and we believe that based on what we found out that it warrants recruiting him."
Coach Blake Anderson said he and his staff identified Jackson as a desired recruit, then turned it over to Mohajir, who said the process took about a month. Anderson said Jackson committed to ASU on Monday.
"We kind of stayed patient," Anderson said. "We felt all along that we had done our homework, and we're happy to have him."
-- Troy Schulte
Sports on 02/02/2017