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UNC Basketball: Two future Tar Heels make first cut for Team USA

By Blake Cockrum

Dec 30, 2019; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Ramses the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs on the court before the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Yale Bulldogs at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2019; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Ramses the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot performs on the court before the North Carolina Tar Heels play the Yale Bulldogs at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /
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A pair of future UNC basketball players have made the first cut for Team USA.

After a three-day training camp in Houston, Texas last week, USA Basketball announced the list of 17 players that made the first cut for the 2022 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team.

Among them are a pair of future North Carolina Tar Heels in class of 2022 point guard Seth Trimble and No. 1-ranked 2023 forward Gregory “G.G.” Jackson. After making it through the initial cut of 10, they’ll now compete for their place in the final 12 which will then suit up for the U18 National Team set to compete for the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship from June 6-12 in Tijuana, Mexico.

Jackson is one of six finalists that competed in the 2022 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team minicamp in New Orleans last month, and it’s expected that he will make final roster cuts for the FIBA U18 Americas Championship. In addition to that, Jackson has been named the No. 1 prospect in the 2023 class by Rivals, On3Sports, and 247Sports over the past couple of months. That’s a heck of a spring for a player that’s still a year away from joining the college ranks.

Trimble is coming off of another fantastic season in his own right. Despite suffering a loss in the final game of his high school career, the Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin native was sensational for four years. He was named the Wisconsin Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday after averaging 26.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 56.5 percent.

The two standouts will play alongside each other when Jackson joins Trimble on campus next summer, forming a formidable duo that UNC fans are eager to see on the court together. Trimble is part of a three-man 2022 freshman class that boasts two other four-star prospects in Jalen Washington and Tyler Nickel, while Jackson continues to recruit 2023 standouts to join him and fellow five-star prospect Simeon Wilcher.

Next. GG Jackson showing why he's 2023's top recruit. dark

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