Bacon turns professional

Former Arkansas State University sprinter Jaylen Bacon said Thursday that he will start his professional career after the USA Track and Field Championships.

Bacon will compete in the 100-meter dash June 21 in Des Moines, Iowa, and then will negotiate a professional contract with Stellar Athletics, a London-based sports management company that he signed with on Thursday.

“I’ll just keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing for four years,” said Bacon, 21. “That part’s over now, and I’m going to a bigger part, where I’m actually getting paid for something I’m doing for free. It’s a lot of exciting stuff. It’s another world.”

Bacon, a nine-time Sun Belt Conference champion, recorded the fastest collegiate 100 meter time of the year at the NCAA West Regionals (9.97 seconds), which qualified him for the national championship meet in Eugene, Ore.

Bacon finished tied for ninth overall in the semifinals with a 10.10-second finish, and he finished 18th overall in the 200 semifinals (20.73).

Stellar Athletics manages over 50 athletes across the world, including former ASU hurdler Sharika Nelvis, whose personal best time of 12.34-second in the 100-meter hurdles in 2015 ranks eighth on the world all-time list.

Bacon has a tattoo on his chest that includes a quill pen and his birth date. He left an intentional blank space, and before the national championship, Bacon said he’d fill in a tattoo of a professional contract when he signed one.

“I’m actually making an appointment right now,” Bacon said. “I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to get it here in Jonesboro or back home (in Eastover, S.C.).”