As the calendar flips over to 2022 and the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule gets underway for the UNC Basketball program, perhaps there may not be a bigger recruiting storyline than the Tar Heels pursuit of five-star forward G.G. Jackson.
The South Carolina native is undoubtedly UNC’s top recruiting target moving forward as they would love to pair him with five-star guard Simeon Wilcher in their 2023 class. Jackson has visited UNC already a few times with an official and unofficial visit and he could return before making his decision.
The five-star is likely to make his final decision sometime this Spring with an official to Durham and the Duke Blue Devils looming in January. However, South Carolina, Virginia, and Georgetown are all in pursuit as well.
As Jackson’s recruitment heats up, UNC is making it more and more known how much they want to see him in Tar Heel blue. And on Hubert Davis’ latest chat with Jackson, he made that clear.
Per The State, Davis had a chat with Jackson on Christmas and told him his only wish for the holiday season:
"“(UNC) coach Hubert Davis told me the only thing I want for Christmas is you in a North Carolina jersey,” Jackson said. “Coach Scheyer says I can be a Paolo Bonchero type of player, and they want to build a stacked team that will win a lot of games and want me to be a part of it.”"
The article also notes the pursuit of South Carolina and Duke, as well as UNC as this recruitment hits the stretch run.
While it’s unknown where each team sits, it does appear as if UNC is the team to beat. They have picked up multiple crystal ball predictions on 247Sports over the past few months and the thought is that the Tar Heels are in great shape to land what could be a Top 5 prospect in a key recruiting class for Davis and his staff.
But there’s a long ways to go and you can never rule out Duke or the in-state program in any race.
For more on Jackson and other UNC Basketball recruiting targets, please check back with Keeping It Heel.