The message Spencer Rattler shared with USC 5-star basketball target GG Jackson
The South Carolina football team got a big boost with the arrival of former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler.
The Gamecock basketball team hopes to make a splash by landing GG Jackson, who is ranked by Rivals as the No. 1 basketball player for the Class of 2023 and attends nearby Ridge View High School.
The two stars met when Jackson was on his official visit to South Carolina on Feb. 20-21. Rattler talked about that encounter — although he couldn’t mention Jackson’s name because of NCAA rules — when the QB spoke with reporters Wednesday for the first time since arriving on campus.
The Gamecocks were the last of Jackson’s four official visits, which also included Georgetown, North Carolina and Duke.
“I didn’t know who he was until I met him. I looked up his Instagram, and saw he was one of the best, if not the best player in his class in the country,” Rattler said. “I got to meet him and he was very excited, which humbled me. He said he has been watching my highlights since he was in middle school. I played basketball myself, so I guess we had that connection. I told him I could still get on that court with him if he wanted to.”
Rattler was a standout on the basketball court and played on the same team as former NBA Draft pick Nico Mannion at Phoenix Pinnacle High School. He averaged 13.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as a junior in 2017-18 before giving up basketball to concentrate on football.
Rattler had 18 points to help Pinnacle to a 76-60 win over Mountain Pointe in the Arizona Class 6A state championship.
Jackson was a big fan of Rattler from watching him on Netflix’s “QB1: Beyond the Lights,” which documented the QB during his recruiting process in high school. He told The State he was a little starstruck when the two met earlier this month.
”I about lost it,” Jackson said of the meeting with Rattler. “I have been watching him since the seventh or eighth grade.”
Rattler, who has only been on USC’s campus for about a month, gave Jackson a simple recruiting pitch.
“I told him, you are from here, you might as well stay home,” he said. “Everybody loves you here and you will make the basketball team better.”
After Ridge View’s state semifinal win over Mauldin on Saturday, Jackson reaffirmed he hopes to make his college choice a few weeks after his high school season ends. The Blazers play Fort Dorchester for the Class 5A state championship on Thursday at USC Aiken.
Jackson is averaging 22.9 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game this season. He was selected as the S.C. Basketball Coaches Class 5A Player of the Year and was an honorable mention for the Naismith All-American team.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 6:14 PM.
