College Commitment – Jackson Weiland (2024 South Medford)

When it comes to standing out on the court as well as in the classroom, we'd be hard pushed to find a better example this past season from the Class of 2024 than Jackson Weiland Jackson Weiland 6'0" | PG South Medford | 2024 State OR . The steady 6-foot point guard from South Medford certainly put together an incredible senior season for the Panthers but also killed it academically as well. That led to him pursuing opportunities both on and off the floor at some of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country and one of those is where he'll be honing his pursuits as he recently announced that he's committed to study and hoop at MIT.

Weiland described how it all went down. "Last summer I was over on the East Coast playing in the Ivy League elite camps in front of a bunch of coaches from high academic programs, and I saw them at one of my games," Weiland said. "I reached out to them after and gave them my film and they watched my a few more times while I was over there. My family and I immediately formed a great connection with Coach Anderson and Coach Murph and we've formed a great relationship since then, and I think that's so important having a coaching staff that I can trust to support me and develop me not only as a player but all-around. Obviously when it comes to MIT they have the best education you can get, and going somewhere where I can challenge myself academically and prepare myself for life after college and after basketball is extremely important to me."

As far as basketball goes, Weiland has high hopes as well. "We haven't had the best record the last few years since COVID, but we're gonna be a really young team with a lot of upcoming talent and we're looking forward to turning the program back around to the success it's had in the past," Weiland said. "The couple times I've visited I formed great connections with the guys there and I'm excited to compete with them for a conference title and then a national championship."

Weiland made his decision not long after getting accepted to the school - which is saying a lot considering around only 4% of all applicants make it through the process. But visiting the school and the Boston area was also very important to him and he described those trips.

"I went first in September before I applied which was my first time on campus and it was a super cool experience getting to explore campus and getting a feel for the environment there," Weiland said. "I was there with a couple other recruits and we were with a bunch of the current players and got to talk about their experience there. They showed us around the school and we got to sit through a couple classes which was super cool. We got to see a little bit of the city which had a super cool vibe to it, and although it's a lot different than back home I could definitely just see myself fitting right in."

"Then I was back again a couple weeks ago for Campus Preview Weekend, so this time all the admitted 2028 students were there," Weiland continued. "So that was super cool getting to meet my future classmates and get to know them. I also spent a lot of time with the team, I stayed with a couple of the guys and they showed me and the other recruit Daniel around. We got to play a little bit too which was great, they have a bunch of really talented players on the team and it was a super competitive environment which is a great fit for me."

In the classroom, Weiland isn't completely sure what he'll major in yet but he has a year to get a feel for it and decide, which may go along the lines of mathematics, physics, or engineering. He knows that combining the high level academics and basketball can be a challenge, but it's all set up nicely there for athletes at MIT.

"The workload can definitely be a lot at times, but about 25% of the school is student-athletes so I'm not alone in terms of trying to manage school with basketball," Weiland said. "And for this reason MIT does a great job of providing resources to help students who are having to manage both, and even have a set time period every day where there are no classes for teams to practice, so athletes don't have to worry about conflicts with classes and practice."

The commitment completes a chapter for Weiland, who finished his high school career as one of South Medford's all-time greats. A four-year starter, he scored 1573 career points and this past season, he averaged 24.0 p[oints, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, finishing among 6A's best in scoring, assists, and free throw percentage. There's no question that Weiland is proud of the individual accomplishments, but also the team success as well.

"What we accomplished my sophomore year I'll remember the most," Weiland said. "That's the most talent and complete team I've been apart of and we battled through injuries throughout the year including myself and we were still able to finish 4th in state with only one in-state loss which is something I'm really proud of. And then individually my senior year was really special for me. I cracked a lot of leaderboards and had a lot of accomplishments which was really cool but what I'll always remember the most is just leading the team with my play and leadership to a very successful season. Despite how drastically different our team looked from before, we exceeded everyone else's expectations and we were undefeated conference champions with a first round playoff win, and I take a lot of pride in being able to lead an unexperienced team to such a great year."

Our congratulations go out to Weiland and his family on his commitment.