Published Jan 17, 2022
Cornerback signee Jason Oliver excited to begin competing with the Buffs
Justin Guerriero  •  CUSportsReport
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Last week, Class of 2022 cornerback Jason Oliver went from offered to committed and signed in about 48 offers, from Wednesday to when he announced he was joining Colorado Friday.

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Oliver, a 6-foot-0, 160-pound corner from Bakersfield (Liberty) Calif., had offers from California, Oregon State, Utah, Boise State and others, but chose the Buffs.

Early Monday morning, he arrived on campus at CU, where he's been getting settled in his dorm and awaiting the start to classes Tuesday.

The Buffaloes are also set to begin their January offseason workouts on the 18th.

For Oliver, a major component in his decision had to do with the opportunity Colorado presented in terms of potentially seeing the field early.

After all, the Buffs recently lost both of their starting cornerbacks from 2021 to the transfer portal, with Christian Gonzalez announcing he'd transfer to Oregon and Mekhi Blackmon still undecided.

Last year, three of Colorado's true freshman cornerbacks saw extensive playing time in Nikko Reed, Tyrin Taylor and Kaylin Moore.

Oliver is the fourth cornerback the Buffs signed within their Class of 2022, along with Simeon Harris, Keyshon Mills and Joshua Wiggins.

Thus, the opportunity to enroll early and immediately begin competing, with two starting cornerback jobs now up for grabs, was appealing.

“That definitely crossed my mind," he said. "(Colorado) even made it known that, especially if I came in early — we have four incoming DB freshmen and they have a really young DB group."

"It’s a unique situation to come in early and start learning the defense. It gives me a chance to where I could fight for a spot and fight for some playing time. I think coming early was a really good decision for me.”

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At Liberty High School, Oliver wore many hats, playing on both sides of the ball while also seeing action as a return man on special teams.

Playing wide receiver, he caught 40 passes for 926 yards and 10 touchdowns while defensively, he was in on 37 tackles with eight breakups and a pair of forced fumbles.

As far as his recruitment was concerned, CU quality control coach Chris Reinert identified and pursued him.

"I was talking to coach Reinert this past week and he was letting me know that he was really trying for me with the coaching staff and getting my name out there," Oliver said. "I took that to heart, the fact that he was doing that for me, and when (Colorado) extended the offer, I knew in the back of my head that I wanted to go to Colorado and be a Buff."

"I ended up committing and they made it known that they wanted me to come up early. I had set myself to graduate (from high school) early, so it all worked out perfectly.”

Oliver, the son Jason Oliver Sr., who played at Southern Cal from 1990-93, has not yet gotten to meet new CU cornerbacks coach Rod Chance, but said he knew of him when Chance was coaching at Oregon.

That will likely change soon, as Oliver continues to get settled in Boulder and the Buffs begin their winter lifting regimen.

Oliver is looking forward to meeting Chance and officially getting started with Colorado.

“He reached out to me and texted me after I committed," Oliver said. "I got to talk to him a bit and I’ve talked with him a couple times when he was at Oregon, so I’m familiar with him and can’t wait to meet him in-person and get to practicing and him coaching me.”