By R.L. Bynum

It was always assumed that Ian Jackson, as a five-star recruit, would have a big season and leave North Carolina after one year, but it didn’t work out quite as expected.

Jackson did move on, but instead of heading to the NBA, the Bronx native will play his sophomore season close to home at St. John’s and expects Coach Rick Pitino to “let me rock.”

After a season that included an impressive midseason stretch but ended with Jackson coming off the bench, he concluded that UNC wasn’t for him, and he wanted a new opportunity.

On an episode of his “Captain Jack Show” podcast, he explained why he left while calling Carolina “great, great people.”

“It just wasn’t for me,” Jackson said of playing at UNC, where he averaged 11.9 points in 36 games while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 39.5% from 3-point range but struggling defensively after coming to UNC as the No. 7 player in the Class of 2024. “It was some things that I couldn’t show, I couldn’t do on the floor that I feel like I could have done. But it’s a journey. Just a different opportunity.”

Jackson, who showed elite skills and the ability to beat just about any defender off the dribble, felt that transferring was best for him.

“For me, it was just about who’s going to let me go and go play. Let me be me,” Jackson said. “Let me go make plays, be Ian Jackson. That was big for me, especially this year, [it] is going to be a big year. I just wanted to be somewhere where I could be free and just play and win games. For me, St John’s is important.”

Jackson never mentioned UNC coach Hubert Davis during the podcast, but he had praise for his Carolina experience.

“I’m gonna miss it there, bro,” Jackson said. “Carolina was great. The school itself was great. The kids, the fans — it was lit.”

When he was finishing his academic year at UNC after making his decision, he heard from fellow students as he walked on campus.

“It was different,” Jackson said. “Everybody on campus knew. So, just going around campus, going to class, everybody’s like, ‘Yo, don’t leave. Don’t leave.’ Asking, ‘Why you leaving?’ It was regular.”

Jackson is one of five players on last season’s team who transferred, along with Elliott Cadeau (who will play at Michigan), Jalen Washington (Vanderbilt), Cade Tyson (Minnesota) and Ven-Allen Lubin (N.C. State).

It looked like it was all coming together for Jackson and UNC when he scored 24 points in a win over UCLA on Dec. 21 at what will be his home court next season, Madison Square Garden. That was the start of six times in a seven-game stretch when he scored at least 20 points, with the Tar Heels going 6–1 during that stretch.

He started 11 consecutive games, but came off the bench for the rest of the season after going scoreless in 22 minutes of UNC’s 67–66 home win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 8. He only topped 20 points once the rest of the season (23 in an 88–82 win Feb. 15 at Syracuse) and combined for only 23 points in the last five games.

Jackson expects a different season playing for Pitino.

“Being home, and then Coach Pitino? Legendary,” Jackson said. “He understands the game. He understands what it takes for a player to get to the next level, which is still ultimately the goal. He understands what it takes to win. Coach P — he’ll teach me a lot. I’m gonna learn a lot, and he’s going to let me rock. We’re gonna build something.”

The Red Storm went 31–5 and won the Big East title before losing 75–66 to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

No.	Class	Player	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt
8	Freshman	Caleb Wilson (5 star)	4	6–10	215
5	Freshman	Isaiah Denis (4 star)	CG	6–4	180
3	Freshman	Derek Dixon (4 star)	CG	6–5	200
40	Sophomore	Ivan Matlekovic	5	7–0	255
11	Sophomore	Jonathan Powell	G	6–6	190
2	Sophomore	James Brown	5	6–10	240
1	Sophomore	Zayden High	4	6–10	230
44	Junior	Luca Bogavac (BO-guh-VAHTS)	W	6–6	215
4	Junior	Jaydon Young	2	6–4	200
13	RS junior	Henri Veesaar (VEH-sar)	5	7–0	225
0	Junior	Kyan Evans	1	6–2	175
15	Junior	Jarin Stevenson	4	6–10	215
7	Senior	Seth Trimble	2	6–3	200
		Walk-ons
25	Sophomore	John Holbrook	4	6–8	230
32	Junior	Evan Smith	2	6–1	195
6	RS senior	Elijah Davis	2	6–3	205

Former UNC players who transferred

Player	Class next season	Pos.	Hgt	Wgt	Next school
Elliot Cadeau	Junior	PG	6–1	180	Michigan
Jalen Washington	Senior	C	6–10	235	Vanderbilt
Ian Jackson	Sophomore	G	6–4	190	St. John’s
Cade Tyson	Senior	F	6–7	200	Minnesota
Ven-Allen Lubin	Senior	C	6–8	230	N.C. State

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 BYU in SLC	Exhib.
29	Wednesday	W, 95–53	vs. Winston-Salem St.	Exhib.
	November
3	Monday	W, 94–54	vs. Central Arkansas	1–0
7	Friday	W, 87–74	vs. No. 17 Kansas	2–0
11	Tuesday	W, 89–74	vs. Radford	3–0
14	Friday	W, 97–53	vs. N.C. Central	4–0
18	Tuesday	W, 73–61	vs. Navy	5–0
			Fort Myers Tip-Off
25	Tuesday	W, 85–70	vs. St. Bonaventure	6–0
27	Thursday	L, 74–58	vs. No. 9 Michigan State	6–1
	December		ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
2	Tuesday	W, 67–64	at Kentucky	7–1
			—————————
7	Sunday	W, 81–61	vs. Georgetown	8–1
13	Saturday	W, 80–62	vs. USC Upstate	9–1
16	Tuesday	W, 77–58	vs. East Tennessee State	10–1
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at No. 23 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 11 Louisville	ESPN
28	Saturday	6:30 or 8:30	vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN or ESPN2
	March
3	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Clemson	ESPN or ESPN2
7	Saturday	6:30	at No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte