By R.L. Bynum

Incoming UNC freshman small forward Ian Jackson scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half Tuesday night to help the East team beat the West 88–86 in the McDonald’s All-American Game at Toyota Center in Houston.

Cooper Flagg, the 6–9 forward who is the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2024 and headed to Duke, was only 3 of 9 from the floor and scored eight points.

Jackson, a 6–4 five-star recruit ranked 16th in the class out of Bronx, N.Y., started, played 25 minutes and was 9 of 21 from the floor and 1 of 5 from 3-point range with two assists and a steal. Last season, Jackson, who was the East’s point guard for much of the game, averaged 23.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the Overtime Elite League.

Fellow future Tar Heel Drake Powell, a 6–5 shooting guard ranked No. 13 in the class out of Northwood High School in Pittsboro, played 17 scoreless minutes off the bench but showed that he’s a dogged defender. He missed all three shots, including a 3-point attempt, but he pulled down four rebounds, swiped two steals, and had an assist.

Powell’s +/- of +11 was second only on the East team to the +13 of Kentucky recruit Boogie Fland, who scored 17 points.

Powell averaged 20.2 points and eight rebounds last season for Northwood.

Powell and Jackson were on the floor in the final minutes as the East pulled out the viotry.

Jackson, Powell and 6–8 four-star forward James Brown make up what 247Sports ranks as the No. 8 freshman class.

Maryland recruit Derik Queen collected 23 points and eight rebounds for the East and was the co-MVP along with the West’s Dylan Harper, a Rutgers recruit who scored 22 points.

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Key events, dates

Saturday, April 27, was the deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft (doesn’t apply to players who were seniors last season, even though they have another year of eligibility)
Wednesday — Deadline for players to enter the transfer portal
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is one of those)
May 29 at 11:59 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 16 at 5 p.m. — Deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft

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UNC schedule so far

Nov. 8 — at Kansas (final AP rank No. 20; final NET ranking No. 19)
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii (final NET ranking No. 172)
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational — Auburn (final AP rank No. 18; final NET ranking No. 5), Colorado (unranked; No. 25), Connecticut (No. 1; No. 2), Dayton (No. 24; No. 23), Iowa State (No. 8; No. 6), Memphis (unranked; No. 75), Michigan State (unranked; No. 24)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle (final NET ranking No. 195)
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA (final NET ranking No. 107) in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida (final NET ranking No. 29) in Jumpman Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center (date TBA)
— Games home and away against Duke, N.C. State and Pittsburgh
— Home games vs. Boston College, California, Georgia Tech, Miami, SMU, Stanford and Virginia
— Road games vs. Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest
Note: 2024 NCAA tournament teams are in bold.

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Potential 2024-25 UNC roster

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
—	Freshman	James Brown (4 star)	5	6–8	225
—	Freshman	Ian Jackson (5 star)	2	6–4	180
—	Freshman	Drake Powell (5 star)	2	6–5	185
2	Soph.	Elliot Cadeau	PG	6–1	180
1	Soph.	Zayden High	4	6–9	225
—	Junior	Cade Tyson	3	6–7	203
13	Junior	Jalen Washington	5	6–10	230
0	Junior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	195
5	Graduate	RJ Davis	PG	6–0	180
		Eligible for fifth season
24	Graduate	Jae’Lyn Withers	4	6–9	215
		Walk-ons eligible for 5th season
14	Graduate	Creighton Lebo	PG	6–1	180
22	Graduate	Rob Landry	2	6–4	190

Photo courtesy of USA Baskeball