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North Carolina's Ian Jackson enters the NCAA Transfer Portal

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•04/07/25•

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North Carolina G Ian Jackson
Bob Donnan | Imagn Images

Ian Jackson was one of the top recruits in the country last cycle and went on to have one of the better freshman seasons in the nation at North Carolina. This year as a Tar Heel will be his last, though, with his breaking decision on Monday.

Jackson has entered his name into the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned. That comes per Pete Nakos this afternoon.

Since then, Nakos has already noted the option that Jackson may not return to college at all with a possible entry into the 2025 NBA Draft. However, if he does, he has now reported on one school that will be involved with him per sources.

Jackson appeared in 36 games, a dozen of those being starts, this season for UNC. In that time, he averaged 11.9 points (45.6% FG, 39.5% 3PT) and 2.7 rebounds per game. That made him their team’s second-leading scorer behind only RJ Davis.

Jackson, a native of the Bronx, played his high school basketball at Our Saviour Lutheran School. He was the No. 8 overall recruit there 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) and the No. 2 player from the state of New York behind only Edgecombe. That’s according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Jackson the highest-rated signee for the Tar Heels out of three total in the No. 5 class in ’24. He came into the program alongside Drake Powell (No. 13) and James Brown (No. 91).

Jackson is now the third departure in the portal during this cycle for North Carolina. Each of them are notable with them losing two starters in Elliot Cadeau and Jalen Washington. Both were among the better available transfers at their position per On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players with each spending about a week available before Cadeau committed to Michigan and Washington committed to Vanderbilt.

In turn, UNC has added a pair of transfers themselves in the last week since the start of April. They’ve earned from commitments from Henri Veesaar (Arizona) and Jonathan Powell (West Virginia).

North Carolina was already looking at having to rework their roster with the key losses they’d be having this offseason. That now becomes that much more difficult with Jackson, arguably their most notable loss yet, entering the portal and immediately becoming one of the top transfers available.

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.