Tag: G.G. Jackson

UNC Basketball commit G.G. Jackson shoots up to No. 1 in 247Sports rankings

UNC basketball five-star commit G.G. Jackson is now the No. 1 player in the 247Sports recruiting rankings that were updated on Thursday.

The UNC Basketball program now has the No. 1 ranked player in a recruiting class on 247Sports.

The website updated their rankings for the 2023 class and sitting at the top is UNC commit [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag].  The forward out of South Carolina shot up the rankings in the latest update to take the top spot, giving Hubert Davis and his program the No. 1 recruit and an exciting future in Chapel Hill.

The 6-foot-9, 210-pound Jackson committed to North Carolina over Duke and South Carolina while landing a total of 16 offers. UNC took the lead in the recruitment last Fall and despite strong pushes by the Blue Devils and Gamecocks, Jackson picked the Tar Heels in the end.

Jackson moved up seven spots from No. 8 to No. 1 in the 247Sports rankings but still sits at No. 2 in the composite rankings behind only DJ Wagner.

Fellow UNC commit Simeon Wilcher is No. 20 in the new rankings that were released.

With Jackson and Wilcher on board, the focus now shifts to recruiting [autotag]Matas Buzelis[/autotag], another five-star prospect in the class. Both Jackson and Wicher have said they are attempting to recruit him to UNC.

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G.G. Jackson is hoping to recruit this five-star prospect to UNC

UNC basketball recruit G.G. Jackson is recruiting this five-star player to join him as a member of the 2023 class.

With two five-star recruits already committed in [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag] and Simeon Wilcher, the UNC basketball program is off to a hot start in the 2023 cycle.

But Hubert Davis and his staff aren’t done yet adding to what will be a very important class. And they have their eyes on another five-star prospect.

Matas Buzelis is the top target left on UNC’s board for the 2023 class and while his recruitment has been silent of late, Jackson is trying to do his part in convincing him to join the Tar Heels’ class. Jackson told Jacob Turner of Tar Heels Illustrated that he is actively recruiting Buzelis:

“We’re working on Matas right now; Matas Buzelis.” (Smiling again)

This fits in line with what Wilcher said earlier this month on a podcast appearance as well. The duo are hoping that Buzelis joins them and boosts UNC ‘s 2023 class.

Buzelis is ranked No. 6 nationally, No. 3 small forward and the No. 1 player in the state of new Hampshire per the 247Sports rankings. He has a total of 13 offers so far as UNC, Kentucky, and Duke among others have offered.

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G.G. Jackson says he’s already building a relationship with UNC players

UNC basketball recruit G.G. Jackson is forming relationships with current players on the roster.

Following their Final Four run, Hubert Davis and the UNC basketball program made a big splash by landing five-star 2023 prospect [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag].

The South Carolina native is one of the top prospects overall in the 2023 class and gave the Tar Heels their second five-star player in the class along with [autotag]Simeon Wilcher[/autotag]. The class will be an important one for the Tar Heels especially with Caleb Love, Armando Bacot, Leaky Black and R.J. Davis likely all leaving after this year.

But before Jackson gets on UNC’s campus next year, he’s already building relationships with the players on the current roster. Here is what Jackson told Tar Heel Illustrated’s Jacob Turner at the Josh Level Classic on Saturday:

“Definitely close to Justin (McKoy), Puff (Johnson), and Caleb Love. Armando (Bacot) hits me up from time to time, but I know he’s pretty busy. I feel like I’m starting to build a relationship with those guys. Caleb, he calls me every now and then, (and) we’ll sit on the phone for like 20-30 minutes. He’s trying to get me to come up there early with them guys. It’s just a good relationship I have with them.”

That’s the Carolina Family aspect that recruits rave about and we are happy to see it continue to trickle down to other recruits.

Hopefully, Jackson can create his legacy like this roster has.

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Two UNC commits named to USA Men’s U18 Training Camp roster

Two UNC basketball commits earned tryout invites to the Team USA U18 team for training camp in May.

Two UNC basketball commits will compete for a spot on the USA Men’s U18 roster in late May, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Both [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Trimble[/autotag] were named to the USA Men’s U18 Training Camp roster. They are two of 27 athletes named to the roster with 12 spots on the USA Basketball U18 National Team which will compete at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship in Tijuana, Mexico, from June 6-12.

Per USA Basketball, this is the full list of tryout players:

Representing the class of 2021 is Corey Floyd.

The class of 2022 will be represented by Mark Armstrong, Amari Bailey, Anthony Black, Eric Dailey Jr., Dior Johnson, Ty Rodgers, Nick Smith Jr., Seth Trimble, Jordan Walsh, Kel’el Ware and Cam Whitmore.

Expected to participate from the class of 2023 are Matt Bewley, Omaha Biliew, Xavier Booker, Kanaan Carlyle, Stephon Castle, Isaiah Collier, Caleb Foster, Brandon Gardner, Brandon Garrison, Gregory ‘GG’ Jackson, Carter Lang, Jared McCain, Ja’Kobe Walter and Bryson Warren.

From the class of 2024 is Derik Queen.

Trimble is a four-star prospect that committed to UNC in 2021 and is the highest-rated prospect in their 2022 recruiting class.  Jackson committed to UNC recently as a five-star recruit in the 2023 class.

It’s nice to see some of Hubert Davis’ recruits earn some recognition like this in terms of camp invites. Now it’s time to go earn that roster spot.

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UNC basketball sealed G.G. Jackson commitment with visit before Final Four

A pre-Final Four visit sealed the recruitment of G.G. Jackson for the UNC basketball program, he confirmed.

The month of March was a busy one for the UNC basketball program, going on their run to the national title game as an 8 seed. That extended into April with the Final Four.

But little did we know that a visit before the Final Four to see five-star recruit [autotag]G.G. Jackson [/autotag]would be the one that sealed it for the Tar Heels.

C.L. Brown of the News & Observer talked to Jackson after his commitment and asked him about his recruitment. The recruit revealed that it was a meeting before the Final Four where he realized that he wanted to commit to the Tar Heels:

“I asked God for a couple of signs way back before the March Madness tournament started,” Jackson said. “One of the signs he gave me was, they kept showing me as their No. 1 priority. We want G.G. Jackson. That stood out with me a lot. Them coming down from the Final Four and watching practice that was huge for me.”

That meeting certainly helped reaffirm that UNC was really in pursuit of Jackson as their top target. And he understood that.

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G.G. Jackson is 100% making a decision next week

UNC basketball recruiting target G.G. Jackson will make his decision next week and the Tar Heels are the favorites.

The recruitment for five-star forward [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag] finally appears to be coming to an end. After a few weeks of waiting for a decision, Jackson is reportedly set to make his announcement sometime next week.

While playing at an AAU tournament this weekend, Jackson told Jeff Borello that he is 100% committing sometime next week. He will have a press conference at his school in South Carolina to make the decision and end his recruitment.

This is certainly good news for UNC as they remain the favorites to land Jackson. The Tar Heels recently emerged as the favorites, holding the crystal ball lead on 247Sports, and at this point, it would be shocking not to see them land him.

The 6-foot-9, 210-pound Jackson is ranked No. 8 nationally, No. 3 at his position, and No. 1 in the state of South Carolina per 247Sports.

Jackson has a total of 16 offers with UNC, Duke and South Carolina being the reported finalists.

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Two more teams showing UNC basketball recruiting target

Two more schools are reportedly getting involved with the UNC Basketball program’s top recruiting target.

While it’s been rumored that the race for five-star power forward G.G. Jackson is coming to an end soon, two programs are making a final effort in trying to pull off a surprising commitment.

Louisville and Oregon are the latest teams to enter the race for Jackson per a report. Stockrisers Jake Weingarten is reporting that Oregon has offered Jackson and now Louisville is also getting involved by showing interest in the recruit.

Former Duke assistant, Nolan Smith, is leading the way in Louisville’s pursuit of Jackson as he watched him at an AAU event last weekend down in Orlando. Smith also helped recruit Jackson while he was at Duke:

Now, UNC fans shouldn’t really be worried that much. All indications are that the Tar Heels still lead the way in this recruitment and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. It does feel like it’s only a matter of time before he makes his decision.

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National analyst ‘more confident than ever’ about GG Jackson to UNC

One national recruiting analyst is now extremely confident in UNC basketball landing No. 1 overall 2023 prospect GG Jackson.

As the recruitment of 2023 five-star forward [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag] winds down, the momentum continues to build about the Tar Heels’ chances of landing him.

That sentiment continued on Wednesday as Rivals national analyst Rob Cassidy put in a FutureCast prediction for Jackson to UNC. He feels ‘more confident than ever’ in North Carolina landing the South Carolina forward.

OK, so this FutureCast isn’t new. It’s been in the system for a while, and I’ve been writing about GG Jackson being a UNC lean for a few months. That said, I’m feeling more confident than ever as the final days of the No. 1 overall prospect’s recruitment tick away. Duke has seemed like the biggest threat to steal Jackson away from the Tar Heels since South Carolina made its coaching change, but even that threat seems to be fading.

Jackson himself has discussed being in closer contact with Hubert Davis than he has been with Duke in the last few weeks, and the writing seems to be on the wall. A decision should be coming soon and could take place before or during the upcoming weekend.

Jackson is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2023 Rivals150 rankings. Duke and South Carolina had been the two biggest competitors in this recruitment.

Jackson previously touched on his relationship with UNC and head coach Hubert Davis.

I texted with [North Carolina head coach Hubert] Davis before they played the UCLA game and gave him my opinion on what that game was going to be like and all that. It’s always all love with him and all love around there. I liked watching them. They don’t play as many guys as other programs do, so this [tournament run] surprised me a little. Obviously Coach Hubert knows what he’s doing, though. It seems like all the coaches and the players are always on the same page.

Even with all of the positive momentum, the UNC coaches made another strong statement by sending multiple members of the staff to watch him at the first live evaluation period last weekend where Jackson made a big statement with his play.

With a decision expected in the next week, the Tar Heels clearly seem like the team to beat. They currently have all 10 FutureCasts or Crystal Ball predictions.

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Hubert Davis hits recruiting trail to see top recruits

UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis was on the recruiting trail watching prospects in Orlando on Friday.

As we await the decisions of a few UNC basketball players, the focus for the program is now on the future of the roster. And that includes recruiting classes for 2023 and 2024.

Just days after a run to the title game, [autotag]Hubert Davis[/autotag] and his staff were out evaluating prospects in the first open period of the AAU circuit. Davis was in Orlando for the EYBL circuit and he was courtside to watch 2023 target [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag], 2024 target [autotag]Nassir Cunningham[/autotag] and 2024 commit [autotag]Simeon Wilcher[/autotag] Friday night.

Davis took it all in as he watch both Wilcher and Cunningham who are teammates on the AAU cycle. He then watched Jackson in the game following.

Wilcher put on a show and looked impressive, finishing with 20 points and 2 assists in the game. Jackson finished with 9 points in the win for Team CP3.

The evaluation period continues this weekend and we will keep an eye on where Davis and the UNC staff is at and who they are watching.

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UNC now the team to beat for top five-star recruit?

The UNC basketball program appears to be the favorite for the top five-star recruit in the 2023 class.

The UNC basketball team won their biggest game in their rivalry with Duke on Saturday night to punch their ticket to the national championship game.

And now it looks like they are going to add another win to their resume over Duke in terms of a big recruiting target as well.

Five-star power forward [autotag]G.G. Jackson[/autotag] is close to a decision in his recruitment and it could come as early as this week. The five-star recruit is the top player in the country for the 2023 class and it appears to be a battle between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils for his service.

As we sit here on Sunday, the recruitment appears to have shifted in the Tar Heels favor. Two Duke reporters have officially switched their crystal ball predictions on 247 Sports from Duke to North Carolina, shifting the predictions to the Tar Heels.

With that, UNC now has the majority of the crystal ball predictions with 83.7 percent. There are no more predictions for Duke and South Carolina has just one although they seem to be out of the running. This is GREAT news for UNC as they should get a HUGE piece to their 2023 class.

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