Jackson Barton inherited his parents' athleticism

SANDY — If Paul and Mikki Barton had offered publicly traded family athletic stock when they began having children, wouldn't you have bought a few hundred shares?

Paul Barton, who is 6-foot-6, was a quarterback and pitcher at the University of Utah, eventually spending a year in the minor leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays. He might be only the second-best athlete in the marriage. His wife, Mikki Kane-Barton, who is 6 feet, was a two-sport star at Utah — Player of the Year in the Western Athletic Conference and a two-time honorable mention All-American in basketball; all-conference in volleyball and the national leader in blocks.

Their union produced four children. The oldest child is Jackson, a 6-foot-6 1/2, 275-pound offensive tackle at Brighton High. After just one year of varsity play, he was offered scholarships by Utah State, Utah and Michigan, with more sure to follow. He has been visited by coaches from BYU and Stanford.

According to one Utah assistant, head coach Kyle Whittingham watched only "10 or 12 plays" of Jackson on video and then shut it off. After pausing for a few seconds, he asked a couple of questions and that was that. He met with Barton minutes before the start of the UCLA game and offered him a scholarship.

"They think if he keeps progressing, he'll be a high school All-American," says Brighton coach Ryan Bullet.

All this fuss is over a 16-year-old sophomore.

"I didn't think it would come so soon," says Jackson.

Division I coaches are asking him to make a verbal commitment to sign a letter of intent next year (NCAA rules forbid recruits from signing letters until they are juniors). Barton gave a verbal commitment to Whittingham (the NCAA also forbids coaches from commenting on recruits, the NCAA having been granted the power to suspend free speech).

"I would like to stay close to home," says Jackson, who grew up attending Ute games with his parents. "Plus, my parents went there."

Bullet, who was Paul's teammate on the Utah football team, doesn't think the verbal commitment will stop the parade of visitors to Brighton. "I'll bet there are still 50 schools who come through here anyway," he says. Michigan pulled the young Barton out of basketball practice to offer him a scholarship. Stanford invited him to its spring camp (the Bartons plan to visit the campus during a trip to the Coast this spring).