Chicago native and five-star guard Destiny Jackson announced Thursday morning that she would be staying close to home, officially committing to the University of Illinois.
Jackson, a member of the class of 2025, announced earlier this week that she would be making her decision on Thursday morning during a ceremony at Whitney Young High School. She narrowed her list down to five teams, including North Carolina, Arizona, Baylor and West Virginia. Baylor and West Virginia were both AP Top 25 teams in last season’s final rankings. Despite the multitude of high-major teams on her top-five list, Jackson chose to stay in her home state.
Head coach Shauna Green and her staff heavily recruited Jackson, attending most of her games and staying in close contact with the point guard. The Illini were in contact with her for longer than any other team on her top-five list. In her junior season, the 5-foot-6-inch guard averaged 16.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, four assists and 3.3 steals while shooting just under 40 percent from the floor and 25 percent from beyond the arc.
Jackson has been extremely consistent across her entire high school career, playing in 92 varsity games and averaging 16.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.4 steals. Throughout her three seasons, she was awarded 17 Player of the Game awards. Not only is Jackson impressive on the stat sheet, but she’s also impressive in the win column. She was a perfect 25-0 against conference opponents in her three seasons. With Jackson at the helm, Whitney Young was ranked top-15 in two of those years and top-20 in the other.
With Illinois’ top three guards Genesis Bryant, Makira Cook and Adalia McKenzie all starting their last year with the team, Jackson should immediately see the floor and have a strong impact on the Illini when she arrives in 2025. Paired with Gretchen Dolan, the sophomore guard who played well as a freshman last season, and five-star freshman forward Berry Wallace, the Fighting Illini will have a solid young core to build with over the next few years.
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The Illini will try to add more talent to their 2025 class, heavily recruiting No. 5 ranked guard Divine Bourrage out of Davenport North in Iowa. Illinois is also going after five-star wing Kaelyn Carroll, who is scheduled to visit the Fighting Illini this fall.
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