Legacy matters to future Illini Jackson

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CHICAGO — Destiny Jackson had family, friends, coaches, teachers and teammates around her in the gym at Whitney Young High School on a Thursday morning in the city’s west side last September.

Not everyone in the room knew the full details of what Jackson was about to announce. They did know the five-star, top-25 recruit in the Class of 2025 who always dreamed of becoming the next big thing to walk the hallways of Whitney Young and admired the accomplishments of some of the great Dolphins girls’ basketball players of the past — Linnae Harper, E.C. Hill and Janee Thompson, among them — was about to forge her own legacy by announcing her college decision.

But what destination would she choose?

Standing in the middle of the gym, Jackson thanked everyone on hand during a brief speech before saying “without further ado, the university that I will be attending the next four years is …”

Then, Jackson proceeded to unzip the black jacket she had on to reveal a blue half-zip jacket she was wearing underneath with “Illinois” printed on the right upper side of it along with the block “I” logo.

It was official: Jackson had committed to Illinois, ending a full-court recruiting press by Shauna Green and her coaching staff since they arrived in Champaign in March 2022 to land the state’s top player. And give the Illini the kind of in-state recruiting win the program hadn’t had in a while.

The commitment to Illinois is part of a senior year where Jackson has collected some major accolades.

Starting with winning the state’s Gatorade girls’ basketball Player of the Year in March. Then, Ms. Basketball honors, with Jackson the first Whitney Young player to earn that particular plaudit. Now, The News-Gazette’s All-State Player of the Year, the first Illini signee to win the honor since former Chicago Marshall standout Adrienne GodBold did in 2009.

The 5-foot-6 guard averaged 21.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.8 steals this past season in leading the Dolphins to the Sweet 16 of the Class 4A postseason and backing up the outsized expectations she has accumulated.

But one she has earned, dating all the way back to her choosing the Illini in a public setting last fall.

“That was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, because you have your family, your friends, your teachers, all gathered around just to hear the school that you’re deciding to go to for the next four years,” Jackson told The News-Gazette. “It’s telling me that I have a really big support system. That I have a lot of people that want to see me succeed. I would say that day was one of the best days of my life.”

A constant presence

Green quickly identified Jackson as a keystone to her efforts in improving Illinois’ reputation from a recruiting standpoint in keeping the state’s top talent at home. The Illini had lost too many recruiting battles within its borders in the past decade amid continued struggles on the court.

But all that has changed since Green arrived a little more than three years ago.

Jackson said the Illini offer came only “three or four days” after Illinois hired Green away from Dayton.

What ensued was a two-plus year process that culminated with last September’s big announcement.

Building a relationship was at its core.

“Our approach in recruiting with Destiny was our entire staff was going to recruit her,” Green told The News-Gazette.

Jackson is the centerpiece of a highly-touted 2025 recruiting class the Illini signed along with three other top 100 recruits in forwards CeCe Parchment and Manuela Alves-Fernandez and wing Naomi Benson. ESPN had Illinois’ five-player 2025 class, which also includes unranked wing Erica Finney from Australia, at No. 8 overall nationally in its March team rankings, while 247Sports had the Illini at No. 11 on its April list.

“It wasn’t just one assistant (that recruited Jackson),” Green said. “We all just dove in to build that relationship with her. I thought that helped us with someone like Destiny.”

So did a constant presence when Jackson played last summer with Example Sports on the Under Armour circuit.

“I don’t know if we missed a game,” Green said. “If we did, it was only one or two. We were super intentional about making sure she was one of our top kids, and we had to be at every one of her games, if possible. Those things get noticed. We really wanted to show our commitment level.”

That all-in approach mattered to Jackson once the Dolphins star point guard started to cut down her list of finalists.

This past July, Jackson had Illinois, West Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona and Baylor as her final five.

But one stood above the rest: the Illini and the connections she made during her visits to Champaign.

“I visited there so many times,” Jackson said. “That last visit kind of completely sold me on what I was already thinking. They were really great people to be around, and I trust them with my future.

“Being able to be a part of a winning culture that’s starting to develop there at Illinois, knowing the fans are starting to rally behind us, I just really can’t wait to get there and play for those fans at State Farm Center. I just really can’t wait to get there.”

Relishing the run

The basketball journey for Jackson hasn’t always been that straightforward. Adversity hit Jackson during the summer of 2020 when she fractured the tibia in her left leg.

But, in some ways, Jackson said she might not be where she’s at today if she didn’t have to recover from that devastating injury before her noteworthy career at Whitney Young even began.

“Obviously, (basketball) has its ups and downs,” Jackson said. “Obviously, there’s days you don’t want to go but you push through. Pushing through the things I didn’t want to go through brought me to where I am now. It’s just all been a blessing in itself, being able to get these honors. Basketball definitely hasn’t been an easy journey, but I feel like I don’t prevail through everything I got put through (without that adversity).”

Future potential

Jackson is now reaping the rewards of that perseverance.

As is Illinois for its persistence to land one of its top targets.

Green long knew the importance of the 2025 class. Not just from a roster standpoint with COVID-19 bonus years ending after the 2024-25 season and the Illini set to lose foundational players like Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant, Adalia McKenzie, Kendall Bostic and Brynn Shoup-Hill. All five were integral to Green’s Illinois rebuild and led the Illini to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons, a WBIT title in 2024 and the program’s first NCAA tournament win in 25 years this past March.

“As we’re continuing to build this program and continuing to move this program forward,” Green said, “now, we have some of those in-state kids.”

Illinois has also done so via the transfer portal each of the last two offseasons, adding Shorewood native and former Mississippi State guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger prior to last season. This month, Illinois signed Peoria native Aaliyah Guyton after she transferred from Iowa.

“I think it’s a cool thing to do, where it might not have been that three, four, five years ago,” Green said. “It brings huge credibility, if you want to call it that, but it was a huge, huge get for us and something we wanted to address and attack from day one that we were here.

“It feels really good, just like when you win a big game. So much work goes into the recruiting process. And to be honest, in recruiting, you hear ‘no’ more than you hear ‘yes.’ For it to be someone, obviously, that we wanted from really the day we got here. … It really felt like that big step for us as far as what we wanted to do when we got here and what we had to do. Actually being able to accomplish it, everyone is just really happy and excited about the future.”

Multiple skill sets

Jackson’s game has attributes that are easily observed, Green said.

Her ability to get to the rim and score.

Her ever-improving three-point shot as she’s developed into a three-level scorer.

Her playmaking ability. A natural skill set for any point guard.

But the Illini coach also points to other aspects about Jackson’s game.

“I just love the intangibles,” Green said. “How hard she plays. She just has that toughness and that fierce competitor side. She wants to defend. She’ll get up full court and defend. Those are things that we really look for in players and something that especially you love from your point guard. I think when she gets to college and continues to work, she’s just going to continue to improve.”

For her part, Jackson fully expects to make an immediate difference as a freshman at Illinois.

But she’s also not naive about the learning curve that awaits her in college. That’s where Jackson hopes to soak up knowledge. To listen. To take criticism and improve as a leader. To work, work and work some more.

“I feel like I’m heavy on mindset,” Jackson said. “I feel like most people don’t go in with the right mindset. I’m a firm believer in mindset is everything. It plays a big role in everything you do, because if your mind is right, then a lot of things can go right for you. I feel like that’s going to carry me throughout college and after. That’s something that has definitely carried me throughout high school.”

Dreaming big

What also carried Jackson on this journey was something bigger than herself.

The idea of chasing greatness.

That maybe Jackson could become what Ayo Dosunmu was for Brad Underwood’s Illini men’s basketball program. Dosunmu, who played at Morgan Park on Chicago’s south side, might ultimately have shown Jackson the way to elevate the Illinois women’s program to new heights, following the blueprint laid out by the current Bulls guard during his three season as an Illini that ended with All-American honors during the 2020-21 season.

But Jackson is inspired by the chance to make her own legacy.

That’s what has made the past eight months so special, from all the individual accolades to leading a storied Dolphins program to a four-peat of Chicago Public League girls’ basketball titles in February when Jackson poured in 42 points in the title game, a 71-61 victory against eventual 4A state champion Kenwood.

“That’s probably one of the best things to be around,” Jackson said. “Obviously, seeing all the greats on the wall (at Whitney Young). You see all the great players that came before you. You see the stories, and to finally be put into that conversation as one of the best girls to come out of Whitney Young, it just feels like an amazing honor, and I can’t appreciate it enough. Especially the amount of talent that you see that has came through here, so it just means a whole bunch to me.

“Coming into Whitney Young, you just feel the greatness. Knowing my name is going to be next to theirs, that’s a really big deal.”