Five-star Ridge View High standout GG Jackson commits to North Carolina Tar Heels
G.G. Jackson’s college decision is in, and it’s North Carolina for the five-star Ridge View High standout.
Jackson made the announcement Wednesday at a ceremony at the high school in front of media, friends and family. He was joined at the podium by his father, Greg, and Ridge View coach Yerrick Stoneman.
Jackson took the microphone and thanked his family, coaches, teammates and schools that recruited him. He then put on a cowboy hat, similar to what UNC players wore when they left for the Final Four. After handing the cowboy hat to Stoneman, he and his father both put on UNC hats.
The 6-foot-9 forward picked UNC over home state South Carolina, Duke, Auburn, Georgetown and playing professionally with Overtime Elite.
Jackson said he informed UNC men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis of his decision on Monday and took the last couple days to relax after making the decision.
“Time definitely slowed down. I thought the day was going to come a lot faster. I feel so much better getting this off of my chest,” Jackson said. “It was definitely a lot of pressure to me but I didn’t want to show it. I just prayed to God that he would lead me on the right path.”
Stoneman, who will be the coach at Oak Hill next season, said the stress of decision weighed on his star player.
“I have been very fortunate to have a great basketball player to coach the last three years but also a great individual and great family,” Stoneman said. “It has been a stressful six months for G.G. and I have noticed it. He doesn’t put it on too much to the public.
“This decision weighed on him and he wanted to make the right one. It was his first decision he will make as a grown person. He took a lot of advice from his parents and his coaches.”
Greg Jackson said they got advice from different people throughout the process, including the parents of Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul. G.G. Jackson has played for Paul’s CP3 AAU team the last few years.
Jackson is the second Tar Heel commit for the Class of 2023, joining top-15 prospect Simeon Wilcher of Roselle Catholic (N.J.).
The Tar Heels are coming off a trip to the NCAA championship game, return most of last year’s team and add three prospects for the Class of 2022. With Jackson and Wilcher in the fold for Class of 2023, UNC can build that class around two marquee players.
“The relationship Hubert Davis has in place with Jackson and his family is strong, and the momentum UNC has on the court is undeniable,” Rivals Basketball Recruiting Director Rob Cassidy told The State this week.
UNC offered Jackson on June 15, the first day coaches could contact rising juniors in the Class of 2023. Jackson said he and his father both got emotional when they got the phone call from Davis to tell him about the offer.
Despite the early offer, Greg Jackson said there will still questions about UNC early on. It was Davis’ first year replacing Roy Williams and they were unsure what kind of style the Tar Heels would play. A lot of those early questions were answered as the recruitment went along.
“The dream school (UNC) hit us at first then we had to a step back,” Greg Jackson said. “We hadn’t seen coach Davis coach yet. We couldn’t get too excited. We wanted to see what coach Davis is going to do and let’s see how the team is going to respond. When things started checking off, we were like, OK, that might not be a bad situation.”
Davis and UNC stayed steady in his pursuit of Jackson despite South Carolina and Duke gaining momentum in the process. The Tar Heels made the last in-person pitch when Davis and assistant Jeff Lebo, Jackson’s main recruiter at UNC, flew to South Carolina and met with Jackson and his family at Ridge View, four days before the Tar Heels’ Final Four matchup against Duke.
A couple days later, Jackson was in the stands at the Superdome in New Orleans watching the Tar Heels take on Duke. He was in town to attend a Team USA basketball camp and all players attended the two Final Four games.
South Carolina looked like the team to beat a few months ago as visions of having Jackson play for his hometown team got fans excited across the Columbia area and rest of the state.
But USC fired coach Frank Martin, who extended Jackson one of his first offers in 2020 and built a strong relationship with him and his family over the past two years. When Martin got the Massachusetts job earlier this month, one of his offers went to Jackson.
“I felt that shifted things,” GG Jackson said on Martin’s firing.
It is the third time since 2017 that blue blood programs UNC and Duke have land top basketball talent from South Carolina. Hammond School guard Seventh Woods committed to the Tar Heels in 2017 and ended up playing at South Carolina a season before finishing at Morgan State.
Spartanburg Day’s Zion Williamson picked Duke over South Carolina and Clemson in his nationally televised announcement in January of 2019. He ended up being the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 by the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jackson arrived at Ridge View his freshman year after playing in nearby Camden growing up. Stoneman remembers seeing Jackson, who was 6-foot-6 at the time, and thinking he had a chance to be an elite national prospect.
Jackson started most of his freshman year but came off the bench near the end of that season. Stoneman was impressed with Jackson’s demeanor during that process and how he didn’t become frustrated.
Jackson has put in the work to be one of the top players in the country, and offers starting rolling in as he rose in the recruiting rankings. Rivals and On3 ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in the country for 2023 while 247Sports Composite has him fifth and ESPN sixth.
“He is extremely gifted, future is bright,” ESPN’s Paul Biancardi told The State on Wednesday. “What makes him special is willingness to accept coaching and wanting to improve. That is huge.”
Biancardi said Jackson has the chance to dominate the game from 12 feet in and his game will to continue to expand as he becomes a better shooter from the outside.
Jackson averaged 22.9 points, 10.9 rebounds this season in helping the Blazers to the Class 5A championship. It was Ridge View’s fourth championship in five years.
Jackson was named S.C. Gatorade Player of the Year and will get a chance to attend another Team USA mini camp in May.
With his college decision out of the way, Jackson must decide his plans for his senior year of high school. His options include staying at Ridge View and playing for Joshua Staley, who was introduced as the Blazers new coach before Jackson’s announcement Wednesday.
Jackson could follow Stoneman, who is taking over the nationally ranked Oak Hill program, or he could ended up at another high-profile high school program. Jackson’s father said an announcement on his high school choice might come toward the end of the AAU period if not sooner.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 3:10 PM.
