A year ago at this time, Frank Jackson seemed determined to wait until the 2018-19 season to make his debut in college basketball. Jackson, then a BYU commit, had gone on record about his intention to take a two-year Mormon mission after graduating high school. It wasn’t an atypical plan for a BYU player (2014 WCC Player of the Year Tyler Haws did it), but it would have been a startling change of course from the way just about every other blue chip recruit assesses their future.
5-star PG Frank Jackson commits to Duke, gives Coach K another terrifying recruiting class
Jackson joins elite wing Jayson Tatum in what’s shaping up to be another powerful recruiting class for Duke.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
At that point, Jackson could be described as “rising” rather than a player who had already risen. He was a coming off a state championship as a sophomore with Utah’s Lone Peak High School and did enough to earn an invite to Chris Paul’s prestigious point guard camp. Somewhere along the way, Jackson realized he was as dynamic as any of the talented point guards packed atop of the class of 2016 and reopened his recruitment. It didn’t take long for class rankings from every major scouting service to back it up.
On Tuesday, Jackson sealed his ascent by committing to Duke over Stanford, Utah and the Cougars. During a time when it feels like Mike Krzyzewski can hand pick any player he wants, it’s the ultimate validation of the progress Jackson has made over the last two years.
Duke is coming off a national championship season in which four freshmen combined to score 60 of the team’s 68 points in the title game. Three of those players were one-and-done first-round draft picks in the NBA with both Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow being taken in the top 10. For Duke to hand pick Jackson during a year with so many great point guards tells you everything you need to know about his evolution as a player.
In Jackson, Duke has an essential piece to what’s turning into one of the better recruiting hauls of the decade. Duke already has a commitment from 6’8 wing Jayson Tatum -- a consensus top-three player in the class -- and is the heavy favorite to land No. 1 overall player Harry Giles. Jackson gives Duke a scoring guard who can play off his teammates by swinging between either backcourt spot while adding outside shooting.
Jackson excels with the ball in his hands, using his ultra quick first step and tight handle to either get to the rim or pull-up. He’s a master at creating space off the bounce and should be a welcome release valve for the offense when things get bottled up inside.
He’s also plenty athletic, in case you were wondering:
Jackson, the son of a state senator, shined against fierce competition on the adidas circuit during grassroots season. He averaged 24 points, four rebounds and 2.7 assists a game on 38.8 percent three-point shooting for the Utah Prospects. He scored more than 20 points in high-profile matchups against fellow top guards Dennis Smith Jr. and Kobi Simmons this summer.
His commitment only adds more fuel to the argument that Duke is out-recruiting everyone right now, Kentucky included. Krzyzewski’s late career recruiting revival puts a heavy emphasis on one-and-dones, and why not after the way last season ended. It’s unclear whether Jackson will meet that criteria (Giles and Tatum are far more likely to leave school after a year) but at this point it’s clear the old maxim about Duke players busting in the NBA is outdated.
The two areas of emphasis for Jackson will be improving as a natural distributor and getting better defensively. If he proves he can stick at the point, he has the size (6’3, 195 pounds) and quickness to be an NBA-caliber player. His floor is probably as a prolific college scorer, which is nothing to be ashamed of, either.
With so much talent coming into Duke, it’ll be interesting to see what happens when starters don’t go pro early. Incoming forward Brandon Ingram is a safe bet to be a one-and-done from this year’s team, but Grayson Allen, Thornton, shooter Luke Kennard and big man Chase Jeter could all return next season. Throw Jackson, Tatum, probably Giles and anyone else Coach K pulls out of this class onto that roster, and look out.
We’re still months away from the 2015-16 season, but it’s already looking like Duke is going to be the team to beat in 2016-17, barring unforeseen developments. Recruiting matters, and no one is doing it better than Coach K right now.
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