Syracuse Basketball: Analyst details major players for 5-star big-man target

Five-star big man G.G. Jackson, whose first college scholarship offer came from Syracuse basketball, said in a recent interview with a national recruiting analyst that he’s looking to trim his list of contenders in the near future.

Will the Orange make the cut? You never entirely know how this recruiting stuff may play out, but the ‘Cuse doesn’t seem to be a major suitor for the 6-foot-8 power forward at this juncture.

Fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina has picked up a handful of predictions for the elite 2023 prospect, according to national analysts and recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com.

Jackson, ranked in the top-10 across the country in his cycle per multiple recruiting services, is a junior at Ridge View High School in Columbia, S.C. He landed a ‘Cuse offer in August of 2020.

Syracuse basketball is probably on the outside, looking in, for five-star G.G. Jackson.

Jackson, whom some analysts and scouts believe will make a run at the No. 1 overall rating in the 2023 class, recently told Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy that he hopes to cut his list of contenders “to five or so” in February or March.

Cassidy writes in an article that the Tar Heels may be considered the favorite for Jackson, and the Rivals.com analyst views UNC, South Carolina and Duke “as the major players for the time being” for the top-three power forward in the 2023 cycle.

Jackson has an extensive list of scholarship offers, from teams such as Kansas, Virginia, Florida State, Duke, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, N.C. State, Maryland, Georgetown, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Boston College.

According to media reports and recruiting services, Jackson has visited South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgetown, and he’s looking at additional trips to Duke and Virginia. Virginia Tech and N.C. State have been mentioned in reports as being in the mix for Jackson as well.

When he trims his list, my sense is that the top five, in no particular order, could be South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgetown, Duke and Virginia. But I’m not a recruiting analyst, so we’ll have to wait and see what Jackson does down the road as far as his recruiting process goes.

I give all the credit in the world to Syracuse basketball coaches for being the first college program to offer Jackson. I had hoped the ‘Cuse getting involved with him early on might provide the Orange with a leg up on the competition.

But Jackson’s stellar play for Ridge View High School and on the AAU circuit led his national rankings to soar, and his recruitment has absolutely blown up over the past six months. That seems to have made it quite challenging for Syracuse basketball to prevail for Jackson.