Powell, Jackson Named McDonald's All-Americans

Two future Tar Heels were named Tuesday to the 2024 McDonald’s All-America basketball team.

Drake Powell, a 6-foot-6 big guard who attends Northwood High School in Pittsboro, NC, and Ian Jackson, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard who plays in the Overtime Elite league as well as at Our Savior Lutheran in the Bronx, NY, have made the prestigious rosters.

The game will be played April 2 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

More on Powell & Jackson:

Note: Complete McD’s Roster posted below.

Outside of the Les Schwab Invitational in Oregon, he has played a local schedule, but grassroots people know how talented he is. He is a unanimous five-star prospect regardless of which company does the rankings.

His tremendous EYBL and camp play have once again carried over to the Northwood Basketball program. The Chargers are 13-3, including 8-0 in the 1A/2Amid-Carolina Conference. Powell is leading the team in just about every category. He is averaging 18.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. He is doing that while playing limited minutes in some games because of huge leads.

An area Powell has excelled what was a question mark last summer was his perimeter shooting. He shot 50 percent at Peach Jam to really help his stock. He’s continued shooting well for Northwood hitting 22 of 48 for a 46 percent clip. He is also shooting 82 percent at the foul line.

Powell has been consistent against the better teams. He scored 23 in a recent loss to Myers Park. He also had 30 points and nine boards against Richmond, and North Carolina State signee, Paul McNeil. He also had 16 points against Reidsville and Kendre Harrison.

Jackson has double-dipped with Our Savior Lutheran and the Jelly Fam of Overtime Elite. He has put up some monster numbers so far this season. In nine games so far, he is second in scoring in OTE at 24.4 points per game. He is shooting 46.3 percent overall, and 29.4 percent from 3-point range. He has been dynamic getting to the rim converting 56.9 percent of his tries inside the arc.

He scored 24 or more points in six of his nine games. He is also grabbing 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and grabbing 1.4 steals per game. Jackson was named OTE's most recent Player of the Week.

Jackson recently led OSL to an upset of top-ranked City Reapers by pouring in 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds to go with three assists and three steals.