North Augusta, S.C. — A week after backing out of his commitment to North Carolina, G.G. Jackson has gone radio silent regarding his next moves this week at the Nike Peach Jam.
Still, the deafening buzz among college coaches at Riverview Park Activities Center is that Jackson is “a done deal” to South Carolina.
“Him announcing that he’s going there is a foregone conclusion,” says an SEC assistant coach on condition of anonymity. “It’s like the worst kept secret of the summer.”
Jackson is also expected to reclassify from 2023 to 2022, and be ready to suit up for the Gamecocks this fall.
The motive behind Jackson’s move was to expedite his entrance into the NBA. That subsequently sealed North Carolina’s fate since Hubert Davis gave his last scholarship for 2022 to top transfer Pete Nance. South Carolina has two open scholarships, and the Gamecocks were widely regarded as the runner-up back when the 6'8'' forward picked the Tar Heels in April.
Jackson had always warred with the possibility of reclassifying to 2022 but told SI in February that he had made up his mind to stay put in 2023 to “reach some of the goals I have for my senior year.” Still, as the realization grew that he could fast-track realizing his NBA dreams by a year, Jackson, who will turn 19 in December, began to change his course.
If Jackson does indeed decide to stay home, it would give new head coach Lamont Paris the highest-ranked recruit in the history of the program, and his best chance to lead the Gamecocks back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017.
Jason Jordan/SI
Jackson’s size and length, combined with his versatility and efficient three-level scoring ability, will give Paris plenty of options for lineups all season.
This past season, Jackson averaged 22.9 points and 10.9 rebounds a game at Ridge View (Columbia, S.C.) and was named MVP of the uber-prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp earlier this month. Last month, Jackson went No. 4 overall in SI’s all-high school NBA mock draft.
He’ll need to be as good or better than advertised to contend in the SEC this season after the Gamecocks lost their top three scorers from last season’s 18-13 squad.
“He’ll get a lot of shots there,” an ACC assistant coach says. “This has been in the works for a while now. They were just lining everything up.”
That said, Jackson’s perceived imminent commitment hasn’t stopped college coaches from swarming the courtside seats at his games this week at Peach Jam.
Sources tell SI that multiple schools have given their spiel to Jackson’s father, Bishop, over the last week and all signs point to Jackson taking a hard look at the G League as well. Still, with mom’s cooking being a less than a 15-minute drive from his dorm at South Carolina, all signs point south.
“Everyone is saying he’ll put it out a week or so after Peach Jam,” a Big 12 assistant says. “People are all shocked, but this is the nature of our sport now. More things like this will happen in the future. Believe that.”
