Top JC basketball player chooses Colorado State

Kimani Jackson, one of the top junior-college basketball players in the country, plans to continue his career at CSU.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward said Sunday night that he "liked everything about" the Colorado State University program and, "I think it was the best fit for me."

Jackson, rated the No. 2 JC prospect in the country at power forward and the No. 7 prospect overall by 247sports.com, made his decision following a weekend recruiting trip to CSU.

"I really liked the guys that were on the team," he said. "Everybody was on the same page, everybody's bought in. The whole program's about winning.

"… The feel and positioning of everything, how the coaches were, just the whole vibe of everything; I felt right about it."

Jackson averaged 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds a game this past season as a redshirt freshman at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs. He has three years of college eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2013-14 season while spending the fall semester at Louisiana-Lafayette before transferring to New Mexico JC.

Jackson also had offers from Fresno State, Tennessee and Old Dominion. CSU, he said, was talking to him before the season began, and coach Larry Eustachy and assistant Ross Hodge both came to see him play and stayed in touch with him throughout the year.

New Mexico JC went 23-9 and advanced to the semifinals of the regional tournament before being eliminated by South Plains (Texas) and future CSU teammate Emmanuel Omogbo. South Plains went on to play for the national title.

Omogbo, a second-team JC All-American, was one of four players to sign with CSU last fall. Jackson said he's looking forward to teaming up with Omogbo. Shaun Gutting, a Rocky Mountain High School graduate and assistant coach at New Mexico JC, believes the two have games that will complement each other nicely.

Jackson, he said, "has the ability to stretch out to the 3, has really great athleticism, great strength and gets to the rim.

"Working with Coach Hodge and Coach Eustachy, he'll end up being a pretty good Mountain West player."

CSU is coming off a school-record 27-7 season. The Rams had three senior starters, including forwards J.J. Avila and Stanton Kidd.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news