Ian Jackson has a visit lined up with a school that would check a lot of boxes for him, ones North Carolina simply couldn’t. For one, it would land him closer to home and it would land him at a program that would allow him to thrive.
He’d also be with a coach that will know how to utilize him and not shove one of the best scorers down the rotation. That school would be St. John’s.
The Red Storm have seemingly been linked with Jackson essentially since he darted out of Chapel Hill for the transfer portal. It’s almost too good of a match between Jackson and St. John’s.
According to Jon Rothstein Jackson has his visit back home with St. John’s on Sunday and Monday. Which means he will probably land with his new school by Tuesday morning. OK, I won’t get ahead of myself, but this feels like St. John’s battle to lose at this point.
Sources: North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson will visit St. John’s on Sunday and Monday.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 10, 2025
Though Jackson could have opted to forgo his college eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft, the latest rumblings feel like he’s closer to playing at least one more year in college. Pitino would be the perfect coach to land with.
St. John’s and Rick Pitino would run the Big East if the Red Storm landed Ian Jackson
What makes Jackson to St. John’s so intriguing is that St. John’s biggest problem throughout the year was that its offense struggled for the most part. It was one of the most efficient teams, defensively, but the squad didn’t have a lot of offensive consistency.
That’s why Jackson to the Red Storm makes so much sense. From a basketball standpoint, the Red Storm would end up getting a certified scorer that can elevate the offense and everyone around him.
Sure, Jackson came off the bench at North Carolina and only had 12 starts. But he also averaged 11.9 points per game, which was the second most on the team. Clearly that was a scheme fit issue, not an issue of his performance.
Pitino would embrace a scorer like Jackson next season. Especially because the Red Storm entered the tournament as a team that could make a run to the Final Four, but didn’t even make it out of the first weekend.
The question will ultimately be, though, is will Jackson stay consistent. He went through a stretch from Dec. 21-Jan. 15 where he had six 20-plus point games in seven games. During that stretch he also had a career-high 27 points.
The problem lies with the fact that he had just one 20-point game to end the season and he went quiet in the NCAA Tournament, averaging five points in the two game and didn’t score in double-figures in either game.
Jackson’s biggest knock from me is consistency. But that could come down to a few things in terms of how things went for him at North Carolina. If he did land at St. John’s, he’d be able to craft his own role and provide a major need for the Red Storm in scoring offense.