UCLA Men's Basketball Makes Combo Guard Elmarko Jackson's Top 11

The Bruins stand out as a dark horse option for the East Coast, who is also looking at Michigan, Maryland and others.

The Bruins have made the first cut for one of the fastest-rising guards on the East Coast.

Class of 2023 combo guard Elmarko Jackson unveiled his top 11 schools on Wednesday, and UCLA men's basketball was part of the shortlist. Kansas, Maryland, Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame, VCU, Texas, Villanova, Miami (FL) and Michigan were the other teams Jackson included, making the Bruins the lone West Coast team still in the race for the South Kent (CT) prospect.

Jackson was also sitting on offers from Bryant, Cal, DePaul, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rider, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Siena, St. John's and Tennessee.

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— Elmarko (@ElmarkoJ) August 17, 2022

The first school to offer Jackson was Rider, all the way back in March of 2020. Seton Hall and Cal were the next to jump on board, also offering Jackson during his freshman year, but getting in on him early evidently didn't get those programs very far.

UCLA offered Jackson on July 13, making them one of the later schools to enter the race for his commitment. Kansas was his most recent offer, joining the fray four days after the Bruins.

Although he has yet to take any official visits, Jackson did unofficially see Westwood earlier in the summer, according to 247Sports' Bruin Report Online. Jackson told All Syracuse in June that he was planning to announce his commitment mid-fall.

Jackson averaged 17.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block per game for Academy of the New Church (PA) this past season on 47/35/80 shooting splits.

Unlike many of UCLA's other class of 2023 targets, Jackson plays on the Under Armour AAU circuit, rather than the Nike EYBL. Jackson won MVP at the Under Armour Future 60 camp at IMG Academy in June, and he has spent this spring and summer starring for We R1.

Jackson is a four-star prospect, according to 247Sports, ESPN and On3, although he has three stars from Rivals. In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Jackson stands as the No. 2 recruit in Connecticut, the No. 17 combo guard in the country and the No. 88 overall prospect in his class.

UCLA does not have any 2023 commits at the moment, and that's despite as many as seven scholarship spots being open next offseason. Coach Mick Cronin's staff has sent out 29 offers, but 15 of those prospects are no longer on the board and several more are projected to move forward elsewhere.

Seven of the nine guards the Bruins have offered have already committed elsewhere, leaving Jackson and five-star Isaiah Collier as the team's only remaining backcourt targets out of the high school ranks.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ELMARKO JACKSON/TWITTER