Incoming UNC Basketball Star on Recruitment: 'We Don't Jack Duke, Bro'

Ian Jackson explained in the latest episode of his Captain Jack Podcast that he went from leaning heavily toward Kentucky to committing to UNC in January 2023 due to the trust and respect he gained for Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis. Evidently, the five-star McDonald's All-American guard out of Our Saviour Lutheran (N.Y.) wasn't too inviting to Davis' Duke basketball counterpart in Jon Scheyer.

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"We don't jack Duke, bro," Jackson, who said a few minutes prior on the show that he sees himself averaging 15-18 points as a Tar Heel freshman, explained to his friends. "I mean, I talked to Coach Scheyer a few times. But offer officially? Nah, because when they came in, I was really swaying to who I'm gonna pick. So, when they came in the picture, there was nothing they could really tell me to change my thing."

During the following sitdown with Complex Sports leading up to the McDonald's All-American Game in early April, Ian Jackson and fellow UNC signee Drake Powell, a five-star forward, battled two of Duke basketball's incoming five-star forwards in willing smack-talkers and defenders of all things Blue Devil Cooper Flagg and Isaiah Evans:

Duke recruits vs. UNC recruits SMACK TALK 😂

McDonald's All Americans went at it! @Cooper_Flagg @22_captainjack @IsaiahEvans26 @powellxdrake pic.twitter.com/M8bvGBINOs
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 5, 2024

Yes, some fresh top-notch entertainment is in store for the game's greatest rivalry next season.

Jackson, No. 8 on the 247Sports 2024 Composite, is the top-ranked piece in a three-deep UNC recruiting haul; Powell ranks No. 11 overall. Flagg (No. 1) and Evans (No. 15), along with NBA Academy Africa five-star big man Khaman Maluach (No. 6), highlight a six-deep 2024 Blue Devil collection that comes in at No. 1 in the country.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI for more Duke basketball news.