Duke basketball: North Carolina on verge of losing No. 1 overall recruit

The Duke basketball program is watching its Tobacco Road rivals very closely. 

North Carolina currently has the second ranked recruiting Class in the 2023, trailing only the Duke basketball program, but that might not be the case for much longer.

The Tar Heels landed No. 1 overall recruit G.G. Jackson in late April and many have lauded Hubert Davis for picking up the highest ranked recruit in his head coaching tenure in Chapel Hill but the second year head coach might not have Jackson under his wing for much longer.

Jamie Shaw of On3Sports first reported last week, in an exclusive article, that the possibility is very real of G.G. Jackson filling his commitment from North Carolina to South Carolina.

Shaw detailed that Jackson was a lock to commit to the Gamecocks and head coach Frank Martin until the university fired Martin, who later was hired as the head coach at Massachusetts.

Now, new head coach Lamont Paris has picked up right were Martin left off in his recruitment of Jackson and it seems to be trending towards a decommitment from the ‘Heels.

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The lead recruiting insider for On3Sports also said that G.G. Jackson could be looking to reclassify into 2022 as that always seemed to be the plan had be originally committed to South Carolina.

Jamie Shaw also went as far as to recently flip his prediction for Jackson to the Gamecocks and has pegged that with 44.6-percent confidence.

Adam Rowe, the lead insider for TheDevilsDen on 247Sports, also flipped his Crystal Ball prediction on Friday morning for G.G. Jackson to South Carolina as his confidence level is listed as a 7-out-of-10.

North Carolina does not have an open scholarship for the upcoming 2022-23 season after the addition of Northwestern transfer Pete Nance and the Tar Heels only have one other player, five-star guard Simeon Wilcher, committed in its Class of 2023 recruiting haul.

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Duke extended and off to G.G. Jackson and hosted him on a visit in late January but the mutual interested between the two sides was never truly formed as the Blue Devils have a plethora of commits in 2022 and 2023 at the same position as the 6-foot-9 forward.

Jon Scheyer has comprised the top ranked recruiting class in 2022 with five-star center Dereck Lively, five-star forward Dariq Whitehead, five-star forward Kyle Filipowski, five-star forward Mark Mitchell, four-star guard Jaden Schutt, four-star guard Tyrese Proctor, and three-star center Christian Reeves.

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The Blue Devils boast five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbacko, five-star guard Caleb Foster, five-star forward Sean Stewart, and four-star guard Jared McCain in its top ranked class in 2023 while also being the leaders for four-star center JP Estrella.

If things continue to trend in the correct direction, Duke will not have to worry about G.G. Jackson dominating Tobacco Road in 2022 or 2023 thanks to the misfortunes and mishandling of his roster by Hubert Davis.