What it’s been like covering top recruit

Jackson Cantwell Commitment: Miami Hurricanes football lands top recruit

Nixa High School’s Jackson Cantwell picked Miami (Florida) as his college destination during a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon in Nixa.

NIXA — On a hot summer morning three years ago, a 6-foot-8 kid entering his freshman year at Nixa High School walked over and sat next to me on a bench on the track. That was the first time I met Jackson Cantwell.

Cantwell was admittedly confused why I was there to talk about football. He was better known then as the son of Christian and Teri Cantwell, a pair of Team USA Olympian throwers, and basketball might have been the No. 1 thing on his heart.

But how could you not see what he could become? It didn’t take Nick Saban or Bear Bryant’s set of eyes to see that this 14-year-old had all the potential in the world, and maybe someday become one of the top recruits in America.

Cantwell and I talked for about 20 minutes, which is way longer than you can normally hold a conversation with someone his age in this profession. Lots of student-athletes are shy and don’t give away too much. Cantwell was extremely detailed, bright and displayed rare humility for a kid with world-throwing records and a 33 on his ACT because he one day got bored and decided to study for it before he took a single high school class.

I wrote the story in June 2022, hoping to introduce readers to a remarkable kid. Since then, he’s become a household name in the college football world.

More: After Jackson Cantwell’s commitment, who is the Springfield area’s next big-time recruit?

“I still have that article in my room to this day,” Cantwell told me recently. “The amount of things that have changed to me in my life since that time…”

Cantwell, who became the country’s No. 1 football prospect, announced Tuesday that he will play collegiately at Miami. His…

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Publish date : 2025-05-14 08:01:00

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