NCAA Basketball: Ranking top 7 teams for five-star PG Elmarko Jackson

Looking at the point guard section of the 2023 NCAA Basketball recruiting class, there’s a clear top-3 tier in the overall group. Isaiah Collier, who is down to four options, Kentucky commit Robert Dillingham, and Duke commit Caleb Foster. But a player that has a chance to get into that top tier is Elmarko Jackson, a native of New Jersey who currently plays at South Kent High School in Connecticut.

Jackson is a consensus top-40 prospect, with 247Sports having them as high as the top-20. By the time rankings come out a year from now, he’ll likely get a five-star designation. He’s a quality defender already, using his size, athleticism, and footwork to make life difficult for opponents. Jackson also is a good passer that can run an offense efficiently and can drive to the basket with ease.

The point guard prospect has updated his recruitment, with a list of seven contenders in play.

They’re seven of the top programs in the country and all have a compelling case for Jackson. But who has the best situation? Here’s how I would rank each of them.

7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

After losing Blake Wesley to the pros, the Irish do have top-30 freshman prospect, JJ Starling, as the projected starting point. He’s not a projected “one and done” for the NBA but maybe he has a breakout campaign that puts him in that direction. If he stays, that certainly would affect Jackson and how viable this team is.

But even if Starling isn’t around for some reason, the overall roster outlook for Notre Dame doesn’t look great after this year. The team has five 5th-year seniors on the roster that automatically won’t be around after this season, leaving a depleted core for the future. It’s hard to imagine that Jackson will want to join unless there are others following. The Irish will likely be rebuilding a year from now and it’ll be hard to see that the point guard will want to join unless he wants to be the clear face of the team.