J.C. Jackson not enrolled at Florida, ‘unlikely’ to return to Gators football team

Updated on Wednesday at 12 p.m.

Florida Gators redshirt freshman cornerback J.C. Jackson, currently facing three charges of felony armed robbery, is “unlikely” to continue his football-playing career with the program, according to a Tuesday report from The Gainesville Sun‘s Robbie Andreu.

Head coach Jim McElwain announced Wednesday, three weeks after Jackson was released from jail on $150,000 bond following a plea of not guilty, that the player is no longer enrolled in school.

“He’s got a lot of things that he’s dealing with right now and right now he’s obviously dealing with those and trying to take care of certain things that he needs to,” McElwian said. “We’ll support him and help him do what he can do but right now he’s not enrolled in school and dealing with some things outside that are a lot bigger than the Florida Gators.”

This comes after he was allowed to finish his spring semester classes online.

OnlyGators.com contacted both of Jackson’s attorneys over the last week but neither would comment on his case, which is pending as Jackson awaits formal charges from the State Attorney’s Office.

One source told OnlyGators.com over the weekend that Jackson is displeased that the Gators already plan to be without him for the 2015 season despite not announcing any specific discipline, whether an indefinite suspension or dismissal from the program.

“He’s not on campus obviously,” head coach Jim McElwain said, according to the Orlando Sentinel‘s Edgar Thompson, during a Gator Gathering speaking engagement in late April. “At the end of the day, we’ve all got freedom of choice. We don’t have freedom of consequence. He’s got a lot of things to deal with right now. He’s got to get it taken care of.”

He continued: “It’s not something that’s reflective of who we are and what we’re all about as an organization. So he’s got a long row to hoe, and we’ll go from there.”

The Sun, citing sources, reports that “the likely scenario is Jackson will try to transfer to another school” even if charges against him are dropped by the state.

Jackson stands accused of arranging an armed robbery at an apartment complex; three victims were held at gun point while the assailants stole marijuana, $382 in cash and two video game consoles.

After the victims identified Jackson due to his status as a Florida football player, he turned himself into police. The victims were unable to identify the co-conspirators, who were at large as of late April.