GG Jackson Prospect Watch: Pure Potential and a High Ceiling Await

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Gregory GG Jackson
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

Gregory “GG” Jackson might be one of the more mysterious lottery picks in this draft, but his ceiling has shown itself a few times. The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward has been impressive despite playing for a rather bad team. South Carolina has all of five wins and some bad losses, but that’s due to poor roster construction. We even have Jackson ranked third in our top five power forwards in the 2023 NBA Draft list.

Gregory GG Jackson This Season

Jackson has had to do just about everything for the Gamecocks and it should be noted he’s doing this a year earlier than expected. He was originally a recruit in the 2023 class, but moved up a year up and committed to South Carolina instead of North Carolina. Here are his numbers through 12 games so far this season.

  • 16.6 PPG, 1.1 BPG, 7.4 RPG, 08 SPG
  • 41.7 FG%, 36.2 3P%, 63.6 FT%
  • 17.6 PER, 98.9 ORtg, 103.6 DRtg

Positives and Negatives

The freshman Gamecock is leading his team in rebounding and scoring this season, which is partly an indictment of his teammates and partly a compliment to his abilities. Despite what seems like a mechanical shooting stroke, Jackson is shooting fairly well from the floor. The exception being at the free throw line where he has to smooth out his form a bit. However, Jackson is a smooth athlete with some nice hangtime, which has helped him finish through contact a bit. But that is something he still has to work on as he plays through the season.

Jackson handles the ball well for his size and can easily go coast-to-coast off a rebound. He has a nice euro-step he likes to use and he is good at posting up on the block. He gets a lot of nice short and mid-range shots from there and consistently hits turnaround jumpers from there. Jackson also excels in isolation situations and does it often as evidenced by his 29.5 usage percentage. The fact he has a PER score of 18 is astounding with how much the ball in his hands and how much offense he has to create at times on this team.

He has struggled on the defensive end so far, but that may not be his fault completely. His team is not great at getting stops, averaging a -6.5 point differential on the season. He has the size and quickness to guard multiple positions, but that is something he will have to show a bit better throughout the season and potentially in the combine. He’s strong at his size and could still add some weight to his frame if a team deems it necessary. His ceiling is definitely the most intriguing part of his game and someone will take a shot at it in the lottery.

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