This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In this age of Twitter and Facebook and anonymous texts and all that, rumors fly fast and furious. Most I tend to discount without a second thought, but one lately in particular piqued my interest. When I heard it a second time from a different source, I decided it deserved a phone call. The rumor was that Lone Peak junior guard Frank Jackson had broken off his commitment to play basketball for BYU. Jackson committed a year ago at this time, before the 6-foot-3 combo guard had even started his sophomore season of basketball for the Knights. The commitment was worthy of statewide headlines, because Jackson is that good. He's so good that ESPN's Recruiting Nation recently ranked him as the 31st best player in the class of 2016. In the country. So I called Frank's father, Alvin Jackson, who is currently campaigning to be a Utah State Senator. Former BYU basketball star Jeff Chatman tweeted out a picture of himself and Jackson at Jackson's campaign reception. He's a busy man, but he had time to talk about his son's future. "No, Franklin has not de-committed to BYU. We have never used those words with those guys. Right now, he is focusing on the high school season, but that doesn't mean I am not getting calls from other coaches who are sniffing around to see if they can entice Franklin," Alvin Jackson said. "But no, he has not de-committed to BYU, no." Jackson said the family is new to the recruiting game, and the whole ordeal has been "an interesting experience," but Frank has not changed his mind, and doesn't plan to. "There are a lot of rumors out there," he said. "Why so many people out there care about Frank [is a mystery]. But I guess I get it. I am new to this as well. It is kinda weird." Jackson said even though Frank committed a year ago, BYU coaches continue to get to every summer all-star circuit game he plays in and haven't stopped recruiting him. "He is still best friends with Dave Rose, Tim LaComb and Mark Pope. In fact, they are wearing us out. I told them I appreciate them recruiting Frank and making him feel like he is going through the recruiting process. And they are doing that. They are stepping up their game. I appreciate that, because I want him to be 100 percent confident in his decision to go to school there. Jackson played for Lehi as a freshman and scored 30 points in a game against Lone Peak and BYU signee Nick Emery. He scored 50 points in June to help his Utah Reign all-star team, comprised solely of Lone Peak players, to a 101-97 win over an international all-star team in the MPAC Sports Basketball Elite International Tournament in Dubai. He scored 40 points or more in three straight games at the tournament, and also won the tournament's slam dunk contest. The soonest high school prospects can sign their national letters of intent is in November of their senior year (during basketball's early signing period), so BYU coaches still have 14 more months to sweat out the commitment. And the rumors will probably continue to fly.