North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson signed with St. John’s on Monday, giving Rick Pitino one of the most explosive guards in the portal.
Jackson, a New York native who went to high school at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx, visited the Red Storm’s campus earlier this month and picked the program after also visiting USC.
“We had big shoes to fill at the point [guard position],” Pitino said in a statement. “Kadary [Richmond] and Deivon [Smith] were awesome. The ball is now in the hands of our next great point [guard]. Let’s go Ian!”
A top-10 prospect coming out of high school, Jackson averaged 11.9 points during his lone season at North Carolina. He came off the bench for much of the season but also started 12 games and put up 15.3 points in those games.
During a seven-game stretch from late December into mid-January, Jackson scored at least 20 points six times and averaged 22.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in that span, shooting better than 41% from 3-point range.
Jackson, who saw his role diminish down the stretch of the season, had big performances against NCAA tournament-caliber opposition in Alabama (23 points), UCLA (24 points) and Louisville (23 points).
Pitino has now landed four transfers this spring, with all four projected to start. Jackson joins Bryce Hopkins (17.0 PPG at Providence), Joson Sanon (11.9 PPG at Arizona State) and Oziyah Sellers (13.7 PPG at Stanford). That quartet will likely join returning starter Zuby Ejiofor, a first-team All-Big East performer, in the lineup.
