William “Turtle” Jackson, a class of 2015 point guard from Athens, Georgia, has officially rescinded his verbal commitment to the University of Connecticut, immediately declaring his intent to play for the University of Georgia.
As disappointed as I am at losing out on the many potential photoshops of Jackson as Raphael or Michelangelo (depending on whether he turned out to be cool, but rude, or a party dude, respectively), this long-rumored change of heart is likely to end up helping the Huskies. Unlike Prince Ali, who decommitted in May following a torrid run in summer league play, Jackson has struggled mightily in recent months. Once looked at as an elite prospect, Jackson was beginning to look like a scholarship burden as Kevin Ollie gains momentum with a strong 2015 recruiting class. With Ollie continuing to recruit elite guards like Malik Newman (ranked as the #3 prospect in the country, out of Mississippi) and Isaiah Briscoe (#13, New Jersey), among others, Jackson may have been starting to feel like he’d struggle to find minutes in a loaded backcourt. With his hometown Bulldogs still interested, it seemed like a mutual split was in both parties’ best interest.
With Jalen Adams (#26, Massachusetts) left as UConn’s only 2015 commitment, this gives the Huskies at least three more spots to fill from that recruiting class. Ollie and his staff have been heavily pursuing Steven Enoch (#54, Connecticut), a 6-10 power forward with a smooth shooting touch. Enoch, being a local product at Norwalk High School, is unsurprisingly showing a fair amount of interest in UConn, with reports indicating that he’s been a Husky fan since his youth. Rumors abound that Enoch may also bring along 6-8 SF Ray Smith (#10, Nevada), also being heavily recruited by UConn. This would probably leave the Huskies looking to add either another ballhandling guard or a true center. If they go the guard route, Newman and Briscoe would remain big targets, as would Jalen Brunson (#15, Illinois), Allonzo Trier (#12, Nevada), and Eric Davis (#39, Michigan). At center, options include Diamond Stone (#6, Wisconsin), Chance Comanche (#21, California), and Josh Sharma (#75, Massachusetts).
Stone and Newman will be tough gets, as both will likely want to wait until later in the recruiting process, to make sure there is room for them to start right away. There has been a great deal of discussion that they’d like to be a “package deal,” but those sort of declarations have pretty mediocre track records. In either case, both appear to be likely one-and-done players. Comanche and Sharma should be the priorities here, with emphasis on adding a scorer if Rodney Purvis or Daniel Hamilton declares early for the NBA after next season.
