The Red Storm have landed its biggest offseason acquisition with the ex-Tar Heel guard.
The St. John’s basketball program landed arguably the best player in the transfer portal last offseason in Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond and might have done it again with North Carolina’s Ian Jackson.
Jackson announced his commitment to the Red Storm on Monday and has been considered as a consensus Top 10 player to enter the portal within the last month.
He joins Arizona State’s Joson Sanon, Providence’s Bryce Hopkins, and Stanford’s Oziyah Sellers in the Red Storm’s transfer portal class.
The former Cardinal Hayes (NY) and Our Savior Lutheran (NY) superstar averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game last season with the Tar Heels on 45.6-percent shooting from the field and 39.5-percent from 3-point range.
Named as a McDonald’s All-American during his senior year of high school, many believed that Jackson would be a one-and-done and be selected in the lottery of the NBA Draft, but his stock dropped after some questioned how he was utilized by the coaching staff at North Carolina.
UNC had a logjam in the backcourt with returning star RJ Davis and sophomore Elliot Cadeau commanding the point guard duties, forcing Ian Jackson to play off the ball more than he had been accustomed to.
Jackson could be asked to play more point guard with the Johnnies next season.
The 6-foot-4 guard only logged ten minutes in North Carolina’s NCAA Tournament loss against Ole Miss but registered nine points in its First Four victory on three triples.
His best game of the season came in his hometown at Madison Square Garden when scoring 24 points in a comeback victory against UCLA. Now, he gets to play there nearly every night with St. John’s.
The Red Storm’s pursuit of adding backcourt players might not be done yet with players being able to enter the portal until April 22, and 4-star high school recruit Acaden Lewis, who recently decommitted from Kentucky, visited the program this week.Â
