When Young guard Destiny Jackson visited Illinois, she felt at home.
Jackson enjoyed the camaraderie with the players and felt she was a priority by the coaching staff. The confluence of factors made Thursday’s decision to commit to Illinois easy for Jackson.
“The feeling of when you know, you know; I knew,” Jackson said. “They got great facilities, and I know they got a great plan for me. I’m just looking forward to winning championships, doing some things that haven’t been done there and being the first one to take that leap of faith.”
Jackson, the 24th-ranked prospect according to ESPN, is the first recruit in Illinois’ 2025 recruiting class and committed to the Illini over West Virginia, Arizona, North Carolina and Baylor.
What separated Illinois from other programs was its aggressive approach. The coaching staff was always talking to Jackson. Whether it was assistant coach Calamity McEntire or coach Shauna Green, Illinois was in constant communication with Jackson. She appreciated the consistency.
“It was never a time where they shied away from not recruiting,” Jackson said. “The only time I didn’t hear from them was during the recruiting dead period.”
Winning was also an important factor for Jackson. She’s a three-time city champion and the leader of a team with the talent to add another championship to the collection. Jackson has now become a key piece in Green’s program. Since taking over the program in 2022, Illinois is 41-25 with a 19-17 record in the Big Ten.
But Jackson said she also needed to have a close bond with her coach, which she feels she has with Green.
“Coach Shauna has only been there for three years, and I feel like the impact that she’s had in the three years with them making it to the tournament her first year there, and then the second year, winning the WBIT [Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament],” Jackson said. “She’s just gonna keep adding to the success, and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”
For Jackson, she could have went to any program she chose as a five-star recruit. But she wanted to go somewhere where she would be wanted and valued. She saw what former Illinois guard and Chicago-born Ayo Dosunmu did for Illinois and wanted to pursue a similar path.
“Just to have a kid like Destiny [that’s] from Illinois to help build that program, it was more of a legacy thing,” said Teshunda Crockrell, Jackson’s mother. “She wanted to go somewhere to build her own legacy. “It’s easy to go to a program that’s already established, but to do that for your hometown, I think that’s super cool.”
Jackson was relieved that she got the commitment out of the way early in her senior year. In addition to relieving the stress, it also gets her more time to acclimate herself to the Illinois system she’ll be running next year.
“Now I can start adapting to their system and implementing what they do there into my daily workouts,” Jackson said. “I’m just excited to get there [and] show what I can do.”