Jackson 1st UNC recruit to decommit since 2003

Elite rising senior G.G. Jackson has decommitted from North Carolina, he introduced through social media on Thursday.

Jackson turns into the primary prospect to decommit from North Carolina in practically 20 years; J.R. Smith dedicated to the Tar Heels in 2003, however opted to go straight to the NBA out of highschool. No participant within the fashionable recruiting period has decommitted from the Tar Heels and gone elsewhere for school.

“First I want to thank God for watching over me and giving me the present and expertise to play basketball,” Jackson wrote on his social media accounts. “To all my coaches from center faculty on up and AAU coaches thanks for believing in me and letting me play to your applications. Thanks to teach Hubert Davis and the UNC Basketball employees for recruiting me and giving me an opportunity to play to your college. My household has caught by my facet since I used to be born and have been the largest supporters in my life by guiding me in the best path.

“I’ve determined to decommit from UNC to discover different choices that may assist me develop from a teenage boy to an grownup to place me in the perfect place to succeed in my dream purpose which is the NBA.”

During the last a number of months, reclassification rumors have circled round Jackson’s recruitment, though he is constantly denied that he plans to enroll in school subsequent fall.

“We had been taking a look at it at first,” Jackson instructed ESPN in April. “However weighing over my choices and searching on the totally different those that reclassed up, seeing the way it affected them. I really feel like, bodily I am not there but to play at that school degree, so I needed to remain in my class and simply put together the perfect that I can.”

Nevertheless, hypothesis has ramped up in current weeks that Jackson finally plans to maneuver into the 2022 class and play in school subsequent 12 months. The probably potential touchdown spot, sources instructed ESPN, is South Carolina, which was within the driver’s seat for his dedication till the Gamecocks parted methods with head coach Frank Martin within the spring. New head coach Lamont Paris tried to land Jackson after taking on, however Jackson dedicated to North Carolina in late April.

Had Jackson remained dedicated to North Carolina, one potential complicating consider any reclassification resolution would have been the Tar Heels signing Northwestern switch Pete Nance from the portal. A 6-foot-10 energy ahead, Nance performs the identical place as Jackson and was signed as a Brady Manek alternative.

A 6-foot-9 ahead from Ridge View Excessive College in Columbia, South Carolina, Jackson is ranked No. 6 within the ESPN 100 for 2023. He averaged 12.9 factors and 9.8 rebounds on the Nike EYBL circuit final spring and summer season, and he’s placing up 12.1 factors and 9.4 rebounds via 14 video games on the circuit this season. Throughout his junior highschool season, he averaged 22.1 factors and 10.9 rebounds, incomes Gatorade Participant of the Yr honors in South Carolina. Jackson was additionally named MVP of the celebrated NBPA Prime 100 Camp final month after averaging 14.0 factors and 9.2 rebounds.

North Carolina now has one dedication within the 2023 class, No. 10-ranked prospect Simeon Wilcher.