UNC Recruiting: 2024 five-star Ian Jackson commits to the Tar Heels

2024 five-star shooting guard Ian Jackson announced his commitment to UNC following what was a really interesting final 48 hours of his recruitment. Leading up to today’s announcement, things went radio silent from Jackson, so everyone internally and externally were more or less left in the dark. Now we know that Jackson will be a Tar Heel, which is a fascinating turn of events considering how heavily he was predicted to commit to Kentucky.

Jackson is a 6’6 shooting guard that currently plays for Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx borough of New York City. He is currently ranked as the second-best player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, and the second-best shooting guard behind Tre Johnson. Jackson’s commitment gives Hubert Davis his fourth commitment of the 2024 class, his second top 10 player alongside Elliot Cadeau, and gives UNC their second-highest ranked commit in the 247Sports Composite era behind Harrison Barnes.

While I haven’t gotten to watch Jackson play much myself, On3’s Jamie Shaw wrote a scouting report for Jackson, and here’s what he had to say:

Ian Jackson is a high-level athlete. He has long arms, broad shoulders, and explosive athleticism in the paint. Jackson has confidence with the ball in his hands, he is decisive in getting downhill to the rim. He can rise up and finish above the rim, and pull up in the mid-range with an assortment of floaters and pull-ups. Jackson is a capable shooter from three, but he still needs polish with this part of his game. His shot selection can get a little wild at times. He is comfortable on the ball, but would like to see him see the floor better. He has natural athletic tools and the utmost confidence. Jackson can be a high-level defender who gives great effort.

Hubert Davis winning a recruit from Kentucky head coach John Calipari is a huge win, and one could speculate that it is potentially related to what’s going on in Lexington lately. Of course that’s just speculation, but the talk around the Hall of Fame coach has been getting pretty grim, though things likely pepped up a bit after their win over #5 Tennessee over the weekend. Still, things have been shifting in national recruiting away from Kentucky locking up all of the elite recruits, and Hubert Davis is the latest to benefit from it.

What do you think of Hubert Davis’ latest commitment? Let us know in the comments below.