When it comes to athleticism, it's in Jackson Cantwell's DNA, at least that's how On3 put it. He is the son of two USA Olympians, his father winning silver and his mother competing. "It's pretty amazing," Nixa coach John Perry told the Springfield News-Leader. "He has not only been blessed genetically from his height. But he's also been blessed with parents who have put a work ethic in him to where he likes to work out and get stronger. He likes to be better than he was the day before and everybody doesn't have that."
Cantwell, the Michigan football recruiting target, is a multisport athlete as well, winning the high school national title for shot put. His toss set the stadium record at Haywood Field for shot put in high school.
The 6-7.5 OT has taken a number of visits to Missouri, Alabama, and Georgia thus far. His top 6 included Georgia, Missouri, Miami, Ohio State, Michigan football, and Oregon, in no particular order. He currently does not have a leader in his recruitment.
I personally believe that Missouri will be the team to beat in this recruitment. Cantwell was born and raised a fan of Missouri teams, flashing a Kansas City T-Shirt at several events. He was even selected as a representative for the Chiefs at the Nike Next Ones event.
Cantwell has yet to take an official visit to Michigan, but did visit during December unofficially. It seems other than Missouri there's no one to rival Michigan, yet, in this recruitment. The Wolverines will likely make a sizeable NIL offer soon as Jackson looks to commit before his senior season.
My gut tells me that Cantwell will go to Mizzou at this point. It seems like a hometown hero such as himself would want to stay local and continue to build a program that has seen tremendous momentum in recent years. But don't count the Wolverines out. Michigan football is playing with money unseen in modern College Football. Money talks, and so do tradition and excellence. We'll see how this all plays out in the coming months.