USC, UCLA Recruit Signs With Texas Southern

Houston,Texas - Defensive end Marquis Jackson, who had verbally committed to play college football at USC, told FOX 26 Sports Tuesday he signed scholarship papers to play at Texas Southern University. Jackson, who played junior college football at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California in 2008, did not play last season. By choosing to play for the Tigers Jackson will not get the opportunity to be reunited with his twin brother, Malik, who has played defensive end for the Trojans for the past two years.

Jackson said the fact that USC has been placed on probation by the NCAA had nothing to do with his decision. "I just signed to Texas Southern University, I signed my commit letters," said Jackson. "The things that are going on at SC had no influence on my decision. I felt like TSU was the best place for me." Jackson had originally committed to play at UCLA before switching to USC and then ultimately signing with TSU. "It felt like home," Jackson said. "I felt the love. I felt the family connection. I'm from Cali and I thought it was time for a change.

Jackson has three years of eligibility left to play college football. He is a 6-4/222 Rivals 2-star DE transfer from College of the Canyons/Birmingham Senior H.S., Van Nuys, CA.

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Urban Invitational a rousing success

COMPTON, Calif. -- After four years of talks and planning, the first MLB Urban Invitational was a coming out party for the Urban Youth Academy.

Tournament games started at USC's Dedeaux Field and UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium on Friday with UCLA Right-hander Charles Brewer (1-0) limiting Southern University to three hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings, leading the No. 3-ranked Bruins past Southern, 11-2. Catcher Brent Dean powered the Bruins offense, finishing 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBIs, two runs and one walk at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Down the freeway, Junior left-hander Tommy Milone threw eight scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while tying a career high with nine strikeouts as the Trojans shut out the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, 2-0.

The games moved to the academy's main field Saturday where UCLA shut out Bethune Cookman in the first game of the doubleheader, 2-0, aided by a solo home run by UCLA right fielder Gabe Cohen and a 10-strikeout performance by UCLA starter Tim Murphy. Despite two shutout losses, Bethune-Cookman head coach Mervyl Melendez is proud that his team was invited to take part in the tournament.

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Urban Youth Academy hosting tourney

Bethune-Cookman, Southern University on display in SoCal

The Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy has become a true baseball gathering place, and that will become more evident when the academy hosts its first Urban Invitational Baseball Tournament this weekend in Compton, California.

Two historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and Southern University (Baton Rouge, La.), will face off against local powerhouses UCLA and USC. The Urban Invitational was created, in part, to showcase the many uses for the academy, but, more importantly to bring attention to the two universities visiting Southern California.

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