By R.L. Bynum
Ian Jackson and Cooper Flagg will soon be on opposite sides of the greatest rivalry in sports, but they’ll be teammates on Saturday night.
Jackson, a 6–4 guard and an incoming Carolina freshman, and Flagg, a 6–8 forward headed to Duke, will team up on the USA team that will take on the World Select team at 10 p.m. Saturday (FS1) in the Nike Hoops Summit in Portland.
Another Duke recruit, Patrick Ngongba II, a 6–11 center from Fairfax, Va., will also play for the USA team.
Flagg is the No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2024, with Jackson No. 16 and Ngongba No. 18.
It won’t be the first time Jackson has donned a USA jersey. He played for the 2021 USA U16 National Team, the 2022 USA U17 National Team and the 2023 USA U19 National Team. He won gold medals in the 2021 FIBA Men’s U16 Americas Championships and the 2022 FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup.
Jackson scored 21 points on April 2 in Houston to lead his East team to an 88–86 victory over the West in the McDonald’s All-American Game in Houston.
The USA has a 17–7 lead in the Hoops Summit, which began in 1995.
Hoops Summit rosters
Key events, dates
Saturday at 11:59 p.m. ET — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
May 1 — Transfer portal closes
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 on those)
UNC schedule so far
Nov. 8 — at Kansas
Nov. 22 — at Hawaii
Nov. 25–27 — Maui Invitational (Auburn, Colorado, Connecticut, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State)
Dec. 14 — vs. La Salle
Likely in late November — Opponent TBA in ACC/SEC Challenge
December — vs. UCLA in CBS Sports Classic (date, location TBA)
December — vs. Florida 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
Potential 2024-25 UNC men’s 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 |
| 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 Basketball
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