There is no doubt about it, prep basketball in the state of South Carolina is drastically on the rise. However, the recruitment of the state is just like it has always been, players either get recruited at the highest level really early or they fall so far under the radar until the very end of their high school careers.
With in-state players, such as Juwan Gary and Christian Brown in South Carolina's 2019 class, they hit the highest level early in their careers. Taking a look at Tre Jackson, his recruitment has gone the way of many South Carolina prospects.
Even though South Carolina is right in the middle of two of the most heavily recruited states in the country, Georgia (South and West) and North Carolina (North) college coaches just don't come through the state. This is despite under-recruited South Carolina players really performing at a high level in college right now.
We first really focused on Tre Jackson during the offseason between his 8th grade and freshman year in high school. It was immediate, you could tell then that Jackson had something different. In September of 2015 we wrote, 'It is not a certainty that he will play on varsity this year however, the future is bright at Blythewood. 5'9' Freshman Trey Jackson is a confident scorer, with a quick trigger and solid handle up top.'
Jackson is coming off a season which saw him average 19.1 points, 3.7 assists per game and 3.2 steals per game. Jackson was the leader of a Blythewood High School team that finished 24-3 and made it to the SCHSL 5A Lower State Finals.
During the 2017-18 Season, Blythewood won Phenom's 2nd Annual Winter Classic in a hard fought game against Conway and Jimmy Nichols. With the love he was getting, and how he performed there, you could see the blow up was only a matter of time. 'We saw Stetson, Winthrop, VMI, Jacksonville, Furman, Newberry, and Wofford were all in the stands watching. Blythewood junior Tre Jackson had a great showing. The scoring lead guard showed a tight handle to go with great shot making ability for himself. Jackson led all scorers with 25 points on 5-8 from beyond the arc. Jackson carries offers from Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina, and South Carolina State.'
Jackson has been one of the hottest names throughout the region since the start of July, which comes as no surprise. He came to Phenom's Summer Jam Session 2 this June and lit the camp on fire. Hundreds in the stands and high level talent lining up against him, he was one of the camp's leading scorers, showcasing a blend of tight ball handling, quickness and deep range/touch.
After his standout showing with us in June, it was obvious, Jackson had taken his game to a new level. We wrote, 'The second session of our Jam Fest in Columbia was arguably the most exciting, providing a lot of high-level prospects and performances. Few players generated more buzz than Tre Jackson, a 6-foot-1 combo guard from Blythewood that can flat-out score the ball. Offensively, Jackson mainly relies on his quickness and shot-creation abilities to make his mark; he gets into the paint quite easily and displays quality athleticism around the cup. There will be concerns about his size at the next level, but Jackson looked comfortable attacking and defending from either guard position. There will be a lot of intrigued college coaches once Jackson improves his patience and overall consistency from three-point territory.'
Yesterday was another couple of milestones for Jackson. He set his first two official visits, the weekend of the 24th he will visit Murray State and the weekend of the 30th he will visit Winthrop. However, yesterday Jackson also picked up his first Power 5 offer when Iowa State extended an offer.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to monitor. Currently, the plan is to sign early. With his ability to really shoot it and really create, it would not surprise to see more Power 5's check in on him.