Several class of 2026 college basketball prospects are getting ready to take the next step in their respective recruitments. One of them is ready to make an early decision, with Sammy Jackson reportedly announcing it in late June next month.
Jackson is a 6’7 true wing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s a rising prospect in the class, now ranked in the top-100 per 247sports and a four-star target on most sites. He’s a perimeter-oriented player who can handle the ball and has a good all-around offensive game.
Four programs are in the mix to land him, including one local option. Here’s a closer look at how he’d fit with each of them.
Indiana Hoosiers
On one hand, the Hoosiers didn’t land any true small forwards this offseason as new head coach Darian DeVries, so with the senior guards Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries leaving, there’s a path for Jackson to get minutes. However, the one true freshman on the roster is Trent Sisley, a 6’6 wing and top-100 prospect. It’s not a guarantee that he’d get minutes over Jackson, but assuming Indiana eventually lands a small forward a year from now, there’d be a logjam for the prospect to deal with if he were to pick them.
St. Joe’s Hawks
As the hometown option, St. Joe’s hopes that’s a compelling enough sell, especially since Villanova is seemingly out of the mix. Playing time wouldn’t be an issue, and as we’ve seen in the past few years, stars can emerge out of the backcourt of a Coach Billy Lange team. The big question here is whether Coach Lange can survive a potential hot seat situation at St. Joe’s if they don’t take the leap into contender status in the A-10 next season.
Texas Longhorns
New coach Sean Miller has a good track record with wings, including Desmond Claude and Dailyn Swain, who followed him over from Xavier. While Jackson has continued to rise as a prospect, the SEC is the toughest conference in college basketball and could be too much early on. The wing position is fairly open for the 2026-27 campaign, but expect transfers to fill it and stiff competition if he were to pick them.
VCU Longhorns
It hasn’t mattered who the head coach is at VCU, as the program just continues to win. Their newest HC is Phil Martelli Jr., who had one of the top offenses at Bryant this past season. They did land a few wing transfers this offseason, including former Villanova wing Jordann Dumont. So, compared to St. Joe’s, Jackson would have a potential logjam to deal with.
Among the four options, the local Hawks offer Jackson the least resistance to early playing time as a freshman. They’re also the riskiest, though the other three teams involved have new coaches, making each a risk in its own right.