Ian Jackson certainly made the most of his first collegiate start on Sunday night.
With Seth Trimble being ruled out due to an "upper-body injury," it left the door open for Hubert Davis to insert his five-star freshman into the starting unit. As he did at Madison Square Garden in the UNC basketball program's last game, Jackson was ballin once again in front of the Dean Smith Center crowd.
Career night for Captain Jack 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fSIaKzkvTF
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) December 30, 2024
Jackson finished with a career-high 26 points, connecting on 9 of his 16 shots from the floor. With this effort, he became the first UNC freshmen to score 20+ points in consecutive games since Cole Anthony accomplished the feat back in 2020.
Jackson has 24 points in back-to-back games and is the first UNC freshman with 20+ in consecutive games since Cole Anthony in 2020. pic.twitter.com/H4NBVEoojN
— Carolina Basketball Stats & Info (@UNCMBBStats) December 30, 2024
As he continues to grow and develop, the question of his role becomes even more prominent, especially as ACC play resumes in the new year.
Is it time for Ian Jackson to be a full-time starter for the UNC basketball program?
""I think he's (Ian) been waiting for his opportunity like that, and he got it and almost had 30 points. So I feel like that just says a lot by itself… I just told him to keep shooting. I felt like everybody out there was a mismatch partner, so I told him to keep going."Elliot Cadeau
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Jackson provides another scoring threat that opposing defenses have to account for at all times. That takes a lot of pressure off RJ Davis, as a lot of the Tar Heels early season issues stemmed from not having enough scorers to ease some of the burden off the fifth-year graduate student.
If Jackson has proven anything in his early UNC basketball tenure, it's that he's a certified bucket-getter.
The good news is: there's people who get paid to make the decision on the lineups. While we can speculate, it's nice to know the Tar Heels have options, especially given that Seth Trimble had a ton of success in a sixth-man role a season ago. Regardless of who starts, the guards will see heavy minutes regardless, it's just a matter of what lineup works the best.
If he continues to play at this high level, Jackson won't have to wait long to hear his name called during the 2025 NBA Draft.