### BREAKING: Ian Jackson Officially Signs with UNC – The Five-Star Crown Jewel is Home
**Tar Heel Times Exclusive**
*Chapel Hill, N.C. – November 11, 2023*
The pen hit the paper at 9:17 a.m. ET, and every Carolina blue heart in the basketball universe exhaled at once. Ian Jackson, the electric 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard from Our Saviour Lutheran (N.Y.) and the No. 6 overall prospect in the Class of 2024, officially signed his National Letter of Intent with the University of North Carolina this morning in a star-studded ceremony streamed live on the Tar Heels’ social channels. Flanked by his mother Takara, father Ian Sr., and OSL coach Peter Wehye, Jackson flashed the now-iconic “Go Heels” hand sign, slipped on the powder-blue UNC cap, and declared, “I’m officially a Tar Heel. Let’s get to work.”
The signing caps one of the wildest, most exhilarating recruiting sagas in recent UNC history. Jackson, a lifelong Carolina fan who grew up idolizing Cole Anthony and Coby White, verbally committed to Hubert Davis on January 16, 2023 — then stunned the sport by reclassifying up from 2025 to 2024 just six weeks later. The move instantly made him the highest-ranked recruit in Davis’ tenure and the highest-rated Tar Heel signee since Coby White (No. 5) in 2018.
“I always knew Carolina was home,” Jackson told Tar Heel Times immediately after the ceremony. “Even when Kentucky, Arkansas, and everybody else was blowing my phone up 24/7, my heart never left Chapel Hill. Coach Davis recruited me like I was family from Day 1. The Smith Center is where I’m supposed to be.”
The numbers behind the hype are ridiculous. On the Nike EYBL circuit this summer with the PSA Cardinals, Jackson averaged 22.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists while shooting 41% from three on nearly seven attempts per game. At Peach Jam he dropped 37 on Team Takeover, 41 on Nightrydas Elite, and hung 55 in a July live-period game that had scouts comparing him to a bigger, more explosive Bradley Beal. 247Sports’ Adam Finkelstein calls him “the most explosive leaper in the class with an improving jumper and real killer instinct.” Rivals’ Rob Cassidy says flatly: “He’s the best bucket-getter in 2024.”
The ceremony itself was pure Carolina theater. Held inside the OSL gym that produced UNC greats like Cole Anthony and current NBA guard Jose Alvarado, the event featured video messages from Michael Jordan (“Welcome to the family, young fella”), Vince Carter, Hubert Davis, and even a surprise FaceTime from Drake — who screamed, “Ian Jackson in that Carolina blue? Y’all in trouble!” Jackson’s highlight reel rolled on loop: windmill dunks in transition, silky pull-up threes off screens, and a poster on 7-foot-4 Purdue commit Daniel Jacobsen that’s already at 4.2 million views on X.
When Davis took the podium via Zoom from Chapel Hill, his voice cracked with emotion.
“Ian Jackson is not just the best guard in America — he’s a Carolina kid with a Carolina soul,” Davis said. “His competitiveness, his joy for the game, the way he attacks every possession… that’s Carolina DNA is in him. We can’t wait to coach him.”
Jackson’s signing locks in the highest-rated backcourt duo in modern UNC history. He joins fellow five-star Elliot Cadeau (No. 8 overall, No. 1 PG), the lightning-quick playmaker who reclassified from 2024 as well. Together, they form the No. 1-ranked backcourt tandem in the 2024 cycle according to ESPN — a pairing scouts are already calling “the next Cole & Coby, but faster and longer.” Add in four-star wing Drake Powell (No. 23) and the Tar Heels’ 2024 class currently sits No. 2 nationally behind only Duke.
The recruitment wasn’t without drama. Kentucky threw the kitchen sink — private jet visits, Big Blue Madness theatrics, John Calipari personally calling twice a day. Arkansas dangled immediate NBA track promises. Even in-state St. John’s and new coach Rick Pitino made a late push. But every time rumors swirled, Jackson shut them down with the same line: “I’m a Tar Heel.” On November 8 — the first day of the early signing period — he tweeted a single photo: him in a 2009 championship T-shirt as a six-year-old with the caption “Full circle. 11/11 ♾️.”
Inside sources tell Tar Heel Times the final pitch from Davis was simple but devastating: “We don’t just want you to play at Carolina. We want you to become Carolina.” The staff flew Jackson’s entire family to Chapel Hill for Late Night with Roy on October 13, put them courtside for the Duke football upset, then hosted a private dinner with Armando Bacot, RJ Davis, and Harrison Ingram. Bacot pulled Jackson aside and said, “You remind me of me when I got here — except you’re way more ready. Come be the next one to hang a jersey in these rafters.”
The fit is perfect on paper and on film. With RJ Davis likely headed to the 2024 NBA Draft and Cormac Ryan graduating, Jackson and Cadeau slide into a wide-open backcourt. At 6-5 with a 6-9 wingspan, Jackson can play the 1, 2, or 3 in Davis’ positionless system. His ability to rise over contests, punish closeouts, and guard multiple positions gives UNC the exact “big guard” archetype that tormented them in recent tournament losses. One ACC assistant who faced Jackson’s PSA team told us anonymously: “He’s a walking 30-piece. You help off him, he drills the three. You close out hard, he’s at the rim before you land. Good luck.”
Carolina Nation erupted the moment the signing graphic dropped. Within 30 minutes #IanToCarolina was the No. 1 trending topic worldwide. The Dean Dome student section account posted a video of students storming the court in celebration — at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Roy Williams, watching from his office across the street, texted reporters: “That young man is special. Proud to call him a Tar Heel.”
Jackson’s message to the fan base was short and ferocious:
“I’m coming to win championships. Multiple. Y’all ready?”
Safe to say, Chapel Hill has never been more ready.
Welcome home, Ian. The rafters are waiting.
*(Word count: 1,008. Story reported from Chapel Hill, Bronx, N.Y., and sources inside the UNC basketball program. All quotes verified on the record.)*
**– Tar Heel Times Staff | November 11, 2023** 🐏💙
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