COLUMBIA, S.C. — Five-star basketball recruit G.G. Jackson has committed to play for the University of South Carolina.
Jackson, a local star at Ridge View High School, announced Saturday via social media that he will play college basketball for the hometown Gamecocks.
Ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class by On3, Jackson will reclassify to be part of the 2022 class, enroll at South Carolina this summer and play for the Gamecocks right away in the 2022-23 season.
“I will like to thank the man above, God himself for blessing me to give me the talent and gift to play the game of basketball,” Jackson wrote in an Instagram post. “I want to thank my entire family for always staying by my side no matter how hard things got and always helping me. I will like to announce that I will be reclassifying to the class of 2022 and committing to the University of South Carolina to further my basketball career and education. NOW LETS GO HAVE FUN FAMS! #HometownHero”
Jackson initially committed to play for North Carolina as a Class of 2023 recruit on April 27. But he re-opened his recruitment on July 14 with the hopes of graduating early from Ridge View to be part of the 2022 recruiting class. Before committing to the Gamecocks, Jackson also reportedly explored signing a professional contract with the likes of the NBA G League or Overtime Elite.
UNC’s roster for this season was full — but South Carolina had room to add another scholarship player, giving the Gamecocks the edge in the recruiting battle.
Landing with South Carolina marks a monumental recruiting victory for first-year head coach Lamont Paris, who came to the Gamecocks after five years coaching Chattanooga. Jackson, a 6-foot-9 forward, would be the program’s highest-rated high school signee in the era of player rankings. P.J. Dozier was considered the 25th-best player in the country by 247Sports when he signed with South Carolina in 2014.
The Gamecocks have not yet made Jackson’s addition official, but a signing could be announced in the coming days. South Carolina begins classes for the fall semester on Aug. 18. Though Jackson has not said so publicly, all indications point to him playing just one season for the Gamecocks before making the jump to professional basketball.
Jackson is 17 years old. He turns 18 in December.
The Gamecocks were hot on the trail for Jackson’s services well before Paris arrived. Former head coach Frank Martin was one of the first coaches to offer Jackson a scholarship in 2020, and Jackson said South Carolina's dismissal of Martin affected his initial college decision.
“When South Carolina let go of coach Martin, I feel like that shifted things,” Jackson said the day he announced his commitment to UNC, “and I finally knew exactly where I wanted to go.”
Paris met with Jackson and his family before the commitment to the Tar Heels. At the time, Jackson’s father, Greg Jackson, described Paris as “a great guy” and said he thinks the coach is “going to be very successful” at South Carolina. G.G Jackson also described the meeting favorably.
“I definitely still had interest,” Jackson said. “I wanted to hear him out to see what he could bring to the table. I didn’t want to put South Carolina just out of the mix just yet because it’s down the road from my house, so you can’t leave them out.
“I want to thank Coach Paris for coming down and talking to me. He told me that he knew he was a little late to the party, but I still wanted to hear about him.”
Despite being “late to the party,” Paris and his staff clearly didn’t give up on landing the prized recruit. Paris and his new staff have since attended some of Jackson’s AAU games with Team CP3 this summer, including this week’s Nike Peach Jam tournament in North Augusta. The Gamecocks were also present at the NBA Top 100 camp.
Jackson averaged 22.9 points, 10.9 rebounds this past season in helping the Blazers to the Class 5A championship. It was Ridge View’s fourth championship in five years.
The addition of Jackson raises South Carolina's profile in the SEC after the Gamecocks lost their entire starting lineup to either graduation or the transfer portal. Paris and his staff have brought in intriguing players through the transfer portal such as speedy former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson and former The Citadel forward Hayden Brown, but Jackson projects to be the team’s focal point this season.
