Calhoun senior lineman Jack DeFoor commits to Ole Miss

Jack DeFoor
Jack DeFoor

CALHOUN, Ga. - Success breeds success. It also breeds opportunity. For Jack DeFoor, being part of a state championship football team opened more than a few doors.

The 6-foot-4, 285-pound Calhoun High School offensive lineman recently committed to the University of Mississippi, one of 15 schools that offered the rising senior a scholarship soon after the Yellow Jackets won the 2014 Georgia Class AAA state title.

DeFoor, rated a three-star prospect by recruiting services, had two Football Championship Subdivision offers prior to December. Immediately after Calhoun's upset win over Washington County in the state final, Clemson and Appalachian State made offers from the higher-profile Football Bowl Subdivision.

He soon received offers from other Division I schools, including Tennessee, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

"At the state championship there were a lot of coaches there," DeFoor recalled. "We all showed what we could do to win a state championship, and the college guys took notice. I got two offers that night and a lot more after that, so that was a big day for me."

Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said the team's tough path to the Georgia Dome gave recruiters ample opportunity to see his guys against top competition.

"We played some quality competition, and Jack was one of the guys who really stepped up his play," Lamb said. "He's been starting since the 10th grade. He's a very, very good football player who has the right temperament on the field. He's got some nastiness about him, and he's very physical."

Even surgery to repair a torn labrum, which caused him to miss an all-star game and several elite camps, didn't stop the offers. Now healed, DeFoor has put on 25 pounds and says his focus is on making his senior year special.

"I'm back in the weight room 100 percent, and this month I will be released to go camps and go full strength," he said. "It's really nice to be able to make the commitment to Ole Miss. Now I can concentrate on going out there and winning another championship."

Though he was intrigued by Tennessee, which came in late with an offer, he chose Ole Miss over Clemson and Georgia Tech. Two visits to Oxford sealed the deal.

"I visited them twice, and the first time I immediately loved the town and the environment surrounding the team," DeFoor said. "The second time I took my mom, and she loved it as well. It was definitely the place for me."

Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.

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