Jackson McVey, 7-foot-1 in-state center, announces commitment to Georgia

Georgia Basketball has its third commitment for the Class of 2025 as Jackson McVey announced he’ll be headed to Athens next season on Tuesday.

The 7-foot-1 center out of Ellijay, Ga. chose the Bulldogs over four fellow finalists, including two of UGA’s biggest rivals: Florida, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Stanford.

McVey, ranked No. 217 nationally according to the On3 Industry Rankings, joins a pair of four-star commits already on board for the Bulldogs. About this time last year, Georgia legacy Jacob Wilkins, son of Dominique, announced his commitment to his father’s alma mater. Coming out of Grayson High School, he’s the nation’s No. 42 overall player and No. 10 small forward. Then, earlier this month, IMG Academy power forward Kareem Stagg joined the class. A native of Chesapeake, Va. before transferring to the Florida prep school, Stagg is ranked No. 90 nationally and 21st among players at his position.

“Home state, SEC ball, good coaching staff,” McVey said about the Bulldogs when previewing his finalists. “I saw Somto (Cyril) there and this man jumped from the middle of the paint and like jumps over everybody and dunks it. I was going nuts. I was like, ‘Yo.'”

7’1” RWE SENIOR Jackson McVey will take a visit to GEORGIA this weekend 👀 @jacksonmcvey_ pic.twitter.com/qHF1B0An3P

— Overtime Elite (@OvertimeElite) September 28, 2024

McVey took a visit to Georgia in September after receiving an offer from the Bulldogs over the summer. He will play his senior season at Overtime Elite, going up against national competition.

McVey spent previous years of his high school career at Gilmer High School where he was one of the team’s top players, consistently scoring in double figures. In a 4-game GBCA Team Camp this summer, McVey averaged 22.8 points per game. Through the first month of his team’s season in 2023, he was averaging a double-double with 26.9 points and 15.6 rebounds per game, highlighted by a 37-point, 30-rebound performance. He also scored 40 points against Dawson County and hit the 1,000-point career mark for Gilmer.

Georgia coach Mike White and his staff are looking to build on a strong finish to last season, picking up momentum both on and off the court with a postseason run to the NIT semifinals and the program’s first 20-win season since 2016. The Bulldogs landed five-star Asa Newell, former Kentucky commit Somto Cyril (also of OTE) and Serbian international star Savo Drezgic – along with a redshirt reclass Jordyen Kee – in the Class of 2024, ranking No. 12 in the nation. UGA also added a transfer portal class that ranked in the top-15 to its roster of three key returnees – Blue Cain, Silas Demary and Dylan James – from a 2023 recruiting class that ranked in the top-20 of the country.