Deciding on a direction for the next four years of his life proved to be difficult for Marion-Franklin High School senior Terrell Jackson.

Just more than a month after verbally committing in December to play football for Duke, the defensive lineman began receiving some of the offers he had been seeking.

After securing offers from Illinois and Michigan State late in the recruiting process, Jackson ended up signing with the University of Pittsburgh on Feb. 1. He was the only player from the City League to sign with a Football Bowl Subdivision or Football Championship Subdivision school on national signing day.

“It was a long process, and he ended up with 21 offers, including all of the (Mid-American Conference) schools,” Red Devils coach Brian Haffele said of Jackson, a three-star player according to Rivals.com and Scout.com. “I think he jumped the gun a little when he verballed to Duke, and then a lot of the Big Ten schools started looking at him. Then it pretty much came down to Illinois and Pitt, and he just felt more comfortable with Pitt. It’s a good fit for him.”

Jackson, 6-foot-3 and 271 pounds, was district Defensive Player of the Year in Division II last fall. He had 18 sacks and more than 60 tackles as Marion-Franklin made it to a state semifinal for the second time in three years and finished 13-1.

Also signing Feb. 1 for Marion-Franklin was senior Josiah Frye, a 5-10, 205-pound fullback and linebacker who picked Kentucky State, a Division II school in Frankfort.

Jackson could be joined as a major college football signee by Eastmoor Academy senior Jabari Howard.

According to Eastmoor athletics director Eric Music, Howard, a 6-2, 320-pound defensive lineman, took an official visit to Youngstown State, an FCS school.

Howard, who like Jackson made the ThisWeek Super 25, was second-team all-state in Division III and finished with 60 tackles, including 10 for a loss, last season when the Warriors finished 10-3. He was a starter since his freshman season.

•ALSO SIGNED FOR FOOTBALL — Urbana University, which is located about an hour west of Columbus, followed its best season in program history with a recruiting class that included three seniors from the City League.

Beechcroft defensive end Kevin Chapple (6-1, 200), Eastmoor defensive back Jalen Crosby (6-0, 180) and Eastmoor free safety Terrell Hudson (6-1, 190) all signed to play for the Blue Knights, who finished 8-3 last season, setting program records for wins, total yards, points per game and points per game allowed.

Urbana captured its second consecutive title in the four-team Great Lakes Football Conference but will join the nine-team Great Lakes Valley Conference next season. The champion of the GLVC advances to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

•NUBIANS GIRLS BACK IN TITLE GAME — The Africentric girls basketball team has won five of the last six City championships and will be going for its second in a row when it faces Northland on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Columbus South.

Last season, the Nubians beat the Vikings 60-52 and both Africentric (Division III) and Northland (Division I) went on to capture district championships.

While the Vikings return much of the same cast led by senior guard and Michigan-signee Symone Denham and junior guard Alexis Peterson, Africentric has a new look this season after losing Raven Ferguson to graduation. Senior Ohio University-signee Kiyanna Black and junior Marley Hill, who formerly played for Pickerington Central, are among the Nubians’ key players this season.

Ferguson was the ThisWeek Super 12 captain last season and is playing for Ohio State.

Africentric is 16-3 overall and finished 14-0 in the City-South to extend its string of consecutive league wins to 98. Eastmoor, which finished second in the City-South at 12-2, lost to the Nubians 65-54 on Jan. 10 and 89-51 on Feb. 3.

Independence (10-4) placed third in the league, followed by Marion-Franklin (6-8), South (6-8), Briggs (4-10), Walnut Ridge (4-10) and Columbus West (0-14).

Northland is 18-1 overall and went 14-0 to win the City-North. Centennial (12-2) placed second, followed by Brookhaven (10-4), Mifflin (8-6), Columbus East (5-9), Whetstone (4-10), Beechcroft (3-11) and Linden-McKinley (0-14).

“That would mean a heck of a lot (to win another City title),” Africentric coach Will McKinney said. “It means the kids in this neighborhood are working hard, and there’s been one word: Consistency. Not many teams other than Brookhaven and maybe the South teams of the 1980s have done it in the City for as long as we have.”

•STARS WIN SWIM TITLES — The Centennial boys and girls swimming and diving teams captured titles in the City meet Feb. 4 at Columbus Aquatics Center.

The Centennial boys team scored 150 points to edge runner-up Northland (139), with Whetstone (115), Eastmoor (45) and Beechcroft (32) rounding out the standings.

The Stars girls squad scored 179 points to beat Whetstone (147), Northland (70), Eastmoor (53) and Beechcroft (38).

•BOYS HOOPS NOTES — The City championship game for boys basketball will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 18 at East.

Walnut Ridge was 12-0 and Africentric was 11-1 in the City-South before the teams met Feb. 7 at Africentric. The Scots defeated the Nubians 61-57 on Jan. 13.

On Friday, Feb. 10, Africentric closes the league schedule at Independence and Walnut Ridge completes league play at Marion-Franklin.

Because the Scots played in the City final last year, the Nubians would advance to the City title game if both teams finish with the same league record.

Walnut Ridge lost 59-52 last season to Northland, which won its fifth consecutive title and likely will be the City-North representative again this season. The Vikings were 12-0 in the league before playing Feb. 7 at East and close the City-North schedule Friday, Feb. 10, against visiting Mifflin.