NCAA Basketball: 3 takeaways from GG Jackson’s decision to join South Carolina
The rumors were swirling for months and soon, the rumors became reality as NCAA Basketball has a storyline of its own to follow as one of the top prospects in the 2023 class, GG Jackson, has decided to reclassify into the 2022 recruiting class since de-committing from the North Carolina Tar Heels to join the South Carolina Gamecocks‘ 2022-23 roster this upcoming season.
Reclassifying up is a risky gamble
It seems every year there’s a top recruit that reclassifies up into a higher class and takes on college basketball. Last year, the storyline was Emoni Bates to Memphis. This year, it looks like there’s been an unexpected “flip” in GG Jackson’s recruitment.
While most of the time, you’ll see “flips” in college football, college basketball has it’s rare moments where a kid de-commits from a school and commits to another, as is the case with Jackson, who after de-committing from UNC on July 14 has decided to stay home in South Carolina as a member of the Gamecocks in their 2022 recruiting class.
Emoni Bates captured headlines before the start of the 2021-22 season by joining the Memphis Tigers early. Memphis went 22-11 while Bates averaged 9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 1.3 apg in just 18 appearances. Since then, Bates has entered the transfer portal and returned to his hometown of Ypsilanti to play for the Eastern Michigan Eagles in 2022-23.
While Bates is listed at 6-foot-9 like Jackson, their games aren’t the same, making Jackson’s gamble a lot different than the latter. He recently stole headlines at this year’s NBPA Top 100 Camp, living up to his prowess as the top prospect in the 2023 class and that’s really when things started to change behind the scenes.
Jackson is a highly-decorated player already in the Palmetto State, winning the 2021-22 Gatorade South Carolina Basketball Player of the Year award while leading Ridge View High to their first-ever state championship behind 14 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks in the title game.
He isn’t a prospect that always needs the ball in his hands and certainly doesn’t need a ton of the spotlight as he’s let his play do most of the talking for him to this point. The 210-pound forward put up 22.1 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.3 bpg, and 1.3 apg in the playoffs and 22.1 ppg and 10.1 rpg in the regular season to close out his high school career. Now, he’ll look to make waves in the SEC with the South Carolina Gamecocks.