GG Jackson sets decision time frame as Gamecocks stay in hot pursuit of 5-star recruit
South Carolina basketball continues to make a strong push to land the hometown high school standout GG Jackson.
The Gamecocks made their presence known Thursday night when head coach Frank Martin — along with assistants Chuck Martin, Will Bailey and Brian Steele — all were in attendance at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center to see Jackson and his Ridge View team play in the Class 5A state championship game against Fort Dorchester.
Martin sat courtside next to South Carolina High School League commissioner Jerome Singleton for most of the game. He usually has his weekly call-in show Thursday; instead, his players filled in for him so he and his staff could attend the game.
Jackson admitted he didn’t have one of his best games but still finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in Ridges View’s 65-57 win over Fort Dorchester for the Blazers’ fourth state championship in the last five seasons.
“I couldn’t get in a rhythm and my shots weren’t falling the way I wanted them to fall,” Jackson said. “But having the (USC) coaches here, it definitely shows the level of love and compassion they showed for me as a coaching staff and as a school.”
Jackson took his official visit to South Carolina on Feb. 19-20, the final of his four visits he’s expected to take as a junior. His visit included attending the LSU game, hanging out with USC players, lunch at Martin’s house and even impromptu recruiting pitches from USC football coach Shane Beamer and quarterback Spencer Rattler.
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.
“I told him, you are from here, you might as well stay home,” Rattler said. “Everybody loves you here and you will make the basketball team better.”
The other schools Jackson has visited were Georgetown, Duke and North Carolina. Georgetown assistant coach Louis Orr was at Ridge View’s Upper State finals game last Saturday.
Jackson released his final six options on Friday and they were Auburn, Duke, G-League, Georgetown, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Jackson expects to reveal a decision sometime in the next few weeks but didn’t give an actual date for his announcement. He did give a glimpse of what his next few weeks will look like as he gets closer to making a choice.
“There is going to be a lot of celebrating and I will still be in school, so there will be a lot of school work to do,” Jackson said. “But I’m really going to be focusing in on cutting my list and making a decision. I plan to talk to my family and coaches. I don’t have a date yet but it is around two or three weeks. It is going to be a big surprise for everybody.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 8:59 AM.
