The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
Coming off a historic junior season, Millikan quarterback Myles Jackson is ready for the next level and has solidified his plans for the next stage of his career. The standout QB has reclassified to the Class of 2023 and has committed to Stanford University.
The Cardinal offered Jackson back in November, and at the time Jackson referred to it as a “dream offer.” Well, just a month later, Jackson has accepted that offer and will be playing his football in Palo Alto next fall.
“Man, it’s been awesome,” said Jackson of finally making his decision public. “The recruitment journey has been crazy but this is something I’ve been dreaming about since I was little. It feels great, man. It feels awesome and it’s a sense of relief. I know my family’s happy, so it’s just great to be in this position.”
Jackson has been a standout performer for the Rams in each of the last two seasons, taking his game to a new level in 2022. He threw for 3,620 yards and 47 touchdowns this past season, setting new Moore League records in those categories. Somewhat ironically, he broke the records of former Long Beach Poly QB Chris Lewis, who also went on to play college football at Stanford before a brief stint in the NFL.
Of course, Stanford's academic reputation was a major selling point for Jackson, who said he appreciates the university’s commitment to excellence in a variety of areas, including athletics.
“That's the biggest appeal about Stanford is the academics, the life after football, and everything that comes with that,” Jackson explained. “You can go to Stanford and be whatever you want to be, so it's really awesome. You get the best of both worlds, as they say … Stanford is great in everything. They do everything at a very high level and that’s something that’s intrigued me since I was a little guy. I always understood the importance of that.”
Due to his record-setting statistics, Jackson was named the 2022 Moore League Offensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-2 signal caller was already a top recruit coming into the season, but has shown continued development year over year. According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Jackson is a four-star recruit and was considered a Top 25 QB in the junior class before deciding to reclassify.
There’s been plenty of news around the Stanford football program in the past couple weeks. Longtime head coach David Shaw announced he was stepping down after 12 seasons at the helm, departing as the winningest coach in program history. Then shortly after Jackson’s commitment to the school, current Stanford QB Tanner McKee announced he was leaving school and entering the NFL Draft.
The coaching search continues for the Cardinal, and Jackson is fully confident in his commitment to the institution and the culture in place.
“It's definitely a unique situation, but you kind of go back to those similar principles,” said Jackson of committing to a program in the midst of a coaching search. “I would have loved to have been coached by Coach Shaw, that was something I was really looking forward to. But I understood when I was there on campus and talking to players and even talking with Coach Shaw, you know, they understand this is a big place, and it's a great opportunity for any recruit, I feel like. And this is good for a fresh start.”
With Jackson’s decision to get to Stanford right away, Millikan has now sent a player to the Pac-12 in each of the last three seasons. Jackson joins Ezavier Staples (UCLA) and Tacario Davis (Arizona) as players who have gone from Millikan to the Pac-12 in recent years.
