LOOK: Lamont Paris responds to Dawn Staley tweet after GG Jackson commitment
South Carolina landed the biggest fish in the pond on Saturday when five-star power forward GG Jackson announced his commitment to the Gamecocks. He’ll also re-classify to the class of 2022, according to On3’s Jamie Shaw, meaning he’ll be able to contribute right away for new coach Lamont Paris’ group.
Paris celebrated accordingly, too.
The Gamecocks headman took to Twitter to react to Jackson’s decision, giving South Carolina its highest-ranked recruit in program history. Earlier in the day, women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley tweeted lyrics to “Nuthin’ But A G Thang” by Dr. Dre in anticipation of Jackson’s decision, and Paris kept with the theme.
Jackson, a five-star prospect and a Columbia native, was the nation’s No. 1-ranked player from the class of 2023 before his re-classification, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He originally committed to North Carolina, but ended up de-committing on July 14, becoming the first player to ever de-commit from the Tar Heels to join another program.
Paris is getting ready for his first season as South Carolina head coach after the program parted ways with Frank Martin, who’s now the head coach at UMass. He spent the last five years at Chattanooga and helped the Mocs to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022, completing a journey from a 10-23 record in 2017 to a 27-8 mark in 2022.
Jackson is joining a South Carolina recruiting class that has two incoming freshmen coming in, including three-star Zachary Davis — the No. 4 player in the state of South Carolina from the class of 2022, according to the On3 Consensus. The Gamecocks also have four transfers coming in via the transfer portal, led by former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson, who started five of 26 games for the Buckeyes this past season.