UNC Basketball: Could 2023 commit GG Jackson leave for South Carolina?

Could another team get into the mix?

Right now, the talk and speculation have mainly involved UNC, South Carolina, and the G League. But if Jackson does potentially become a free agent again, expect the three other programs that were originally a player to try and see if they can change his mind.

Auburn Tigers

After seeing the massing success of Jabari Walker and him almost going No. 1 in the last NBA Draft, they can make the argument that Coach Bruce Pearl’s offensive system can showcase Jackson’s game the best.

They do have five-star incoming freshman Yohan Traore likely to start so he’ll have to move on after one season to make room for Jackson. That wouldn’t be difficult but they did come in late in the recruiting process so hard to tell how much room they could make up.

Duke Blue Devils

I wouldn’t doubt the recruiting ability of new head coach Jon Scheyer after seeing his success with the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes. The problem here would be that Jackson would have to wait until the 2023 class to join the Blue Devils.

With top-5 overall prospects, Kyle Filipowski and Dereck Lively already on the roster, they simply don’t have room for Jackson. They could a year from now but if the recruit in question would only make a move if he’s playing next season, Duke just wouldn’t make sense right now.

Georgetown Hoyas

The Hoyas are on the opposite end of Duke, as they could easily take Jackson and make him the featured player on offense. Currently, UConn transfer Akok Akok is most likely to start at power forward and UNC commit would not only be a big offensive upgrade but also be a nice fit alongside Maryland transfer Qudus Wahab.

Still, I don’t think Jackson would be enough to make Georgetown an NCAA Tournament contender and there’s little chance that he’ll leave his current situation for them unless there’s some historic NIL deal the program could offer.