High School

Jackson Cantwell, nation's No. 1 offensive tackle, wearing Oregon, Nebraska gloves for Thursday action

Andrew Nemec

5-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell
5-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell /

There's no debate about the talent level of class of 2026 Nixa (Missouri) standout Jackson Cantwell.

The son of two Olympic throwers, Cantwell is a consensus five-star prospect and a top-six player nationally in his class - rated as highly as No. 2 overall by both Rivals and the composite scores.

Unsurprisingly, almost every major program in the country is after the 6-foot-7 1/2, 305-pound lineman.

For his part, Cantwell is formally down to a top 14 of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and USC, but Georgia and Missouri are two worth keeping close tabs on until the end.

Oregon is hoping to make that short list as well, and Cantwell's football/track and field aspirations may give the Ducks a recruiting pitch worth hammering.

On Thursday night ahead of Nixa's game against Kickapoo (Missouri), Cantwell was spotted wearing pink Oregon "O" gloves in warm-ups:

However, by gametime the five-star prospect had switched to Nebraska mitts:

Cantwell has been known to switch up his gloves frequently, as earlier this he was photographed with one Georgia glove and one Missouri glove.

So, perhaps the very unofficial "gloves worn" statistic will not be the deciding factor after all.

Still, Oregon and Nebraska fans are likely encouraged by Cantwell's desire to rep their gear on gameday.

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Andrew Nemec
ANDREW NEMEC

Andrew Nemec covers national high school recruiting and brings more than a decade of experience. Andrew hosts "Recruiting with Andrew Nemec" on ESPN-affiliate 1080 The FAN in Portland, Oregon. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon.

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