Duke covets GG Jackson
South Carolina forward is a Duke priority target and national level recruit.
South Carolina has had its share of big-time basketball prospects from the state. Zion Williamson, Raymond Felton, PJ Dozier and Major Wingate are some of the first ones that come to mind for this veteran recruiting writer.
GG Jackson from Ridge View in Columbia is the next one in line. The amount of visitors who have personally gone down during the open period to try and develop a relationship with the 6-foot-9 prep star is simply ridiculous.
Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Chris Carrawell were there last week, and it made an impression on Jackson’s father, Bishop, as he explained to Bull City Hoops.
“We were impressed that Duke came in,” said Bishop. “Mainly just bringing in the new blood, the young coaching staff. They seem excited and we’re excited to see what they’re going to do this year.”
For the Blue Devils to win this recruitment, they’ll have to beat out a lot of suitors. Jackson has 24 offers at the present time, including South Carolina, the home school, who has stated the in-state superstar is their number one target in the junior class. The campus at South Carolina is just miles down the street from Ridge View High.
North Carolina will be another strong player in this recruitment. New head coach Hubert Davis has been prioritizing the versatile forward and has had the whole staff in to see him work out. Both the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils have offered Jackson. But they are far from the only ones. Jackson has them from Syracuse, Georgetown, Kansas, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Alabama, Pitt, Maryland, Clemson, Wake Forest, Mississippi, Boston College, DePaul, Charleston, High Point and the aforementioned home school, South Carolina.
Simply put, his recruitment is at an elite blue-blood, regional and national level.
He’s already unofficially visited South Carolina, Wake Forest, NC State, North Carolina and Duke. And that day, back in June, was actually when the Blue Devil staff offered him his scholarship.
The next step is official visits and the elder Jackson told us that his son is in the process of setting them up to both Durham and Chapel Hill.
“We are working on those details this week actually,” he said. “We should have the visits set up by the end of this week or the first of next week.”
As for his goals going into his junior season, Jackson says his son wants to win the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year as well as a state championship for Ridge View.
“He’s in the gym at five or six in the morning and he’s really focused on these goals of his. He is seeing that all of the work that he’s putting in has really paid off. So that motivates him to work even harder. He wants to get to his goals.”
As for what the magic potion will be to win over Jackson when he eventually decides on which of these 24 schools he’s going to attend? It will come down to just a few things, his dad explains.
“We are looking for a program that can get him (to the NBA) the quickest. So looking at how they play, what their track record is. Of course, how the coaching staff is. We will be watching these schools, like North Carolina and Duke very closely this season, to see how they play and how they use their guys. I told him that we’ll have to watch it even closer this season.”
Don't think it's as much a lock to the Carolina's as some think.
Lot of early buzz with UNC and South Carolina. I had heard Duke is in good shape early on but will be interesting to see how deep they will get in this recruitment. Obviously Foster was a priority in this class as is Mgbako. Jackson seems to be one also.