Another 2023 point guard has entered the picture for Tony Bennett and his staff as Elmarko Jackson is the latest prospect to pick up an offer from UVa.
Jackson, a 6-foot-3 three-star guard, has seen his stock increase during the last two weekends as he has picked up offers from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, DePaul, Rutgers, LSU and Kansas to go along with Virginia.
“This offer means a lot,” Jackson told CavsCorner. Coach Bennett and his staff don’t offer a lot of players so this offer holds a lot of substance behind it. Looking back at Coach Bennett’s time at UVa, he has had so many great players go through that program. With me being in the New Jersey and Philly area, it was cool seeing DeAndre Hunter go there because we are from the same area pretty much. It is really nice to have a school of that high caliber to trust me.”
During the first June Live Period last weekend Bennett got his eyes on Jackson, which sealed the deal on offering the point guard who is slated to attend South Kent (CT) for his senior season.
Bennett talked to Jackson about how much he and the Virginia staff believed in him as a player.
“He told me how much he believes in me and really likes how I am improving as a shooter,” Jackson explained. “He feels like their development program is really strong and he kept on telling me how he thinks I can develop long term as a player and especially in shooting. He thinks that I would fit in really well with their style of play.
“They are a very poised team that knows what they want to do at the right time,” he added. “He knows I want to reach my goal of playing at the highest level and he thinks I can get there if I go to UVa.”
When Bennett officially offered the scholarship to Jackson, he talked about how he could see Jackson being used in Virginia’s system and Jackson enjoyed listening to what the veteran coach had to say.
“I would be used in their system as a guard that can control the game on offense because he really likes the type of decisions I make in the right situations,” Jackson said. “With them being such a high level defensive team, they really get after it on defense and I already take a lot of pride in that while I am on the court. Tony Bennett said he would use me as a really sound defensive player.”
Since Bennett’s teams cemented UVa’s place among the national-level program, the Wahoos have caught the eyes of Jackson and he has been able to watch them on different occasions.
“I really like how poised they are,” he said. “They are a very good half-court team and their defense is simply amazing. I like how the guards really control the game. I like to be poised when the ball is in his hands so I think it could be a perfect match.”
The next step for Jackson is trying to set up a time to visit Charlottesville and it would actually be the second time Jackson has been on Grounds following a trip several years back.
“I really want to visit Virginia again,” Jackson said. “I visited there four or five years ago and just walked around the campus. The visit was nothing basketball related. I love the campus.”
As he mentioned, he did not tour facilities or anything but there were still a lot that left an impression.
“The architecture really stood out,” he said. “The people walking around and just being lively on campus and the culture was just very upbeat. The energy was great and I feel like it is a really nice college town. This visit was four or five years ago so I don’t remember a whole lot about it but I enjoyed everything I saw.”
