Five-star Jackson Carman names his top ten

Following a dominant junior season, Fairfield, Ohio offensive tackle Jackson Carman was awarded a fifth star and elevated to the No. 2 overall player in the 2018 class. Already a hot commodity on the recruiting trail, Carman used the Christmas holiday to announce the 10 schools that currently sit atop his interest list.

WHAT’S NEXT

With 30 scholarship offers to his credit already, Carman pared his list by two-thirds, leaving Alabama, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, Wisconsin and USC as the top contenders. Carman has made campus visits to most of these schools already, with Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame hosting him for game visits this past season. Carman has a senior teammate, Josiah Scott, who will enroll at Michigan State next month, and a fellow junior teammate in four-star defensive end Malik Vann who has named both Michigan State and Notre Dame as leaders in the past. While these ten schools stand out, he clarified these are not yet finalists.

IN HIS WORDS

“As of right now it's just a top 10. I'll probably make my decision after my senior season.”

RIVALS’ REACTION

This is the first, solid insight to the range of top schools that has come directly from Carman in his recruitment. Until this point he has mostly been sitting back, collecting scholarship offers and taking campus visits. The list did not provide any major surprises. It features four schools from the SEC and three from the Big Ten, with Clemson, USC and Notre Dame filling out the ranks. Ohio State still has to be considered the team to beat. They will have signed the top player in-state in four of the previous five classes and were in on Carman early with plenty of love directed his way.