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St. John's

North Carolina's Ian Jackson commits to transfer to St. John's

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater04/21/25samdg_33
Ian Jackson
Bob Donnan | Imagn Images

Ian Jackson was once a top high school recruit who became one of the top players in the transfer portal after his freshman season at North Carolina. Now, he has committed to the team that was one of his other finalists in his first recruitment back in his home of New York City.

Jackson has committed to transfer to St. John’s, On3 has learned. The Red Storm have since announced that commitment by Jackson. This comes after reported connection, including by On3’s Pete Nakos, between Jackson and the program since his entry into the portal as he later took a reported visit to Queens a week or so ago now.

“We had big shoes to fill at the point. Kadary (Richmond) and Deivon (Smith) were awesome,” Rick Pitino said of the addition. “The ball is now in the hands of our next great point.”

Jackson just finished his first college season with the Tar Heels. He appeared in 36 games, with a dozen starts, in averaging 11.9 points (45.6% FG, 39.5% 3PT) and 2.7 rebounds per game. That made him the second-leading scorer this past year for UNC behind only RJ Davis.

Jackson, from the Bronx, played in high school at Our Saviour Lutheran School. He was the No. 8 recruit in the country as a Five-Star+ prospect in the 2024 cycle. He also rated as the No. 4 SG in the class after only VJ Edgecombe (Baylor), Tre Johnson (Texas), and Jalil Bethea (Miami to Alabama) while being the No. 2 player in the state of New York after only Edgecombe. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

With that, Jackson is now one of the top transfers in this portal window. He, per the latest update to the Industry Ranking of 2025’s Top Transfer Portal Players, is ranked at No. 12 and as the No. 4 SG.

Jackson is the highest-rated of what’s a high-level portal class now coming to St. John’s. He joins the program alongside Bryce Hopkins (Providence, Kentucky), Oziyah Sellers (Stanford, USC), and Joson Sanon (Arizona State). That’s after losing five transfers this offseason with RJ Luis, one of the top players in the portal after being Big East Player of the Year, along with Simeon Wilcher and Jaiden Glover plus Khaman Maker (DePaul) and Brady Dunlap (Saint Louis).

Jackson was one of the top guards on the market in the portal this offseason. He’s now off that market, though, and heading home to play for the Johnnies in the Big Apple as a big get for the program under Pitino.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.