By SAM LANCE
KANSAS CITY — Being around the Nike EYBL circuit for a few weekends and seeing Carmelo Anthony interact with the players on Team Melo, it’s clear that Anthony particularly loves a certain prospect: top-35 point guard Tyler Jackson.
After games, Anthony always catches up with the 6-foot-2, 155 pound point guard from Overtime Elite and gives him tips and tricks on how to improve his play. The two appear to be rather close.
During Session 4 in KC with the 10-time NBA All-Star in attendance, Jackson averaged 18.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 53.7% from the field and 8-of-19 from 3-point range. He also added a steal per game and lead Team Melo to a 3-2 record with wins over the Georgia Stars, Florida Rebels and JL3 Elite.
His best game came vs. JL3 Elite, where he scored 28 points and made four 3-pointers in 26 minutes of action.
“I just been working hard lately,” Jackson said. “Keeping my head focused, keeping my mind right, body right. I’ve just been in the gym, working out. And plus outside of basketball, talking to my guys more. Just watching practice, watching film, stuff like that.”
Right now, Jackson’s recruitment is pretty wide open, and he named several schools currently recruiting him. Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Maryland, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Syracuse and Virginia have all been in contact and are all in the mix. Jackson said schools like Syracuse, Maryland and Georgia Tech have been recruiting him for the longest period of time.
Jackson has visited Auburn, Maryland and Syracuse officially this past January so far. He plans on seeing some mores schools coming up, but no specifics.
“I’m keeping my recruitment open,” Jackson said when it comes to selecting visits. “Keep my eyes open. Seeing who really really likes me, seeing who’s still on me when I’m playing bad. Things of that nature.”
The point guard broke down some of his options during Session 4 to ZAGSBLOG.com:
Alabama: “They did good [last year]. I’ve been in contact with them a lot. We’ve been talking. I like Alabama. [Mark] Sears, he went crazy. So shout out them. Alabama was just at the SFG game [in Indianapolis]. I saw them.”
Maryland: “All the coaches talk to me. All the coaches love me at Maryland. They depend on me. Coach [Kevin] Norris just went up there. So you know he loves me, that’s my guy. We’ve been talking and all that.”
Syracuse: “I love them. I was up there. They actually took me around, showed me the school. It was nice. They showed me that the coaches want to invest in me, actually like me. And they do. So we’re going to see what that’s about too.”
Georgia Tech: “I like coach [Damon] Stoudamire. They’ve been on me since I was in 8th grade, 9th grade playing on the UAA circuit.”
Auburn: “Bruce Pearl, Auburn, they let all their guards go, obviously. They just had Aden Holloway, they’re bringing in Tahaad [Pettiford]. And they like me. We went on a visit. We talked. We had a good talk and the pictures went crazy actually. Go like them. And yeah.”
Jackson said he plans on narrowing down his schools in the near future.
“It’s coming soon,” Jackson said. “It’s coming real soon.”
The point guard is ranked the No. 33 player in the 2025 class per 247Sports. Jackson describes himself as a floor general and said he’s really been working on his playmaking, among other things.
“I can get guys involved, be a playmaker,” Jackson said. “So that’s all I’ve been trying to work on and it’s improving. And dunking on people. You know, I have to get that dunk package up. It’s coming.”
Jackson’s favorite NBA player is Kyrie Irving and his No. 1 hobby outside of hoops is going out to eat. Five Guys is his spot. The guard also has four siblings.
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