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Jul. 20—is happy to carry on her friendship with especially now that the two high-level recruits in the Class of 2025 have been reunited as teammates.
Jackson and Bourrage were former AAU teammates at Example Sports.
But Jackson ended up signing on with and the Illinois women's basketball team out of high school after the Chicago native and five-star recruit finishing up her time at Whitney Young, while the Davenport, Iowa, native Bourrage ended up at LSU.
Now, they're back together again on the same team.
"I was the most excited person ever," Jackson said about her initial reaction when the starting Illini point guard heard Bourrage was transferring to Illinois in early April. "That's my best friend. So, being able to play with her (again). Obviously, that's something I wanted to do coming out of high school. Knowing that it was meant to be, and it ended up happening, was one of the best moments of my life."
Jackson and Bourrage had a much different freshman year at the college level. Jackson started all 34 games on an Illinois team that won 22 games and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament with the 5-foot-6 guard averaging 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes per game en route to All-Big Ten Freshman team honors.
Bourrage, meanwhile, played sparingly as a freshman at LSU after the 5-11 guard found herself in a experienced, talented and deep backcourt led by , and . Bourrage still played in 24 games with the Tigers, who made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, and ended up finishing at 2.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
Still, Jackson understands she can play a role in helping Bourrage — a consensus five-star, top-15 recruit, according to most recruiting services, in the 2025 class — fit in right away with a new team.
"It's great," Jackson said. "Obviously, on the court and off the court she has somebody that she's familiar. So, it makes the transition even easier. On the court, Divine is a very good player. I know she's going to fit in just right. I feel like Divine is a player that's going to do everything on the court. She's going to go dive for that loose ball. She can knock down that open shot. She can get to the paint, and she's going to be that great teammate, as well.
"I know it's great for her knowing she can get that confidence back instilled in her. Like you said, she knows she's still a very good player and just fitting into our team just seamlessly has definitely been great for her and I know she's enjoying the transition."
Green, too, has noticed what having a close friend in Jackson has done for Bourrage with the former LSU guard now on campus since early June with the Illini currently in the second half of eight weeks of summer workouts as a team.
Illinois, of course, brought back basically its entire core from last season's team, too, with the top-nine players in the rotation all running it back.
"I think it's great to have those teammates that have been there and really like pouring into her, and especially Destiny, having that friendship and their relationship," Green said. "She can kind of tell her, 'Hey, this isn't just you, it's all part of the process, you're essentially a freshman here. You're going to understand this just day by day.'"
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Jackson and Bourrage were former AAU teammates at Example Sports.
But Jackson ended up signing on with and the Illinois women's basketball team out of high school after the Chicago native and five-star recruit finishing up her time at Whitney Young, while the Davenport, Iowa, native Bourrage ended up at LSU.
Now, they're back together again on the same team.
"I was the most excited person ever," Jackson said about her initial reaction when the starting Illini point guard heard Bourrage was transferring to Illinois in early April. "That's my best friend. So, being able to play with her (again). Obviously, that's something I wanted to do coming out of high school. Knowing that it was meant to be, and it ended up happening, was one of the best moments of my life."
Jackson and Bourrage had a much different freshman year at the college level. Jackson started all 34 games on an Illinois team that won 22 games and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament with the 5-foot-6 guard averaging 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes per game en route to All-Big Ten Freshman team honors.
Bourrage, meanwhile, played sparingly as a freshman at LSU after the 5-11 guard found herself in a experienced, talented and deep backcourt led by , and . Bourrage still played in 24 games with the Tigers, who made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, and ended up finishing at 2.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.
Still, Jackson understands she can play a role in helping Bourrage — a consensus five-star, top-15 recruit, according to most recruiting services, in the 2025 class — fit in right away with a new team.
"It's great," Jackson said. "Obviously, on the court and off the court she has somebody that she's familiar. So, it makes the transition even easier. On the court, Divine is a very good player. I know she's going to fit in just right. I feel like Divine is a player that's going to do everything on the court. She's going to go dive for that loose ball. She can knock down that open shot. She can get to the paint, and she's going to be that great teammate, as well.
"I know it's great for her knowing she can get that confidence back instilled in her. Like you said, she knows she's still a very good player and just fitting into our team just seamlessly has definitely been great for her and I know she's enjoying the transition."
Green, too, has noticed what having a close friend in Jackson has done for Bourrage with the former LSU guard now on campus since early June with the Illini currently in the second half of eight weeks of summer workouts as a team.
Illinois, of course, brought back basically its entire core from last season's team, too, with the top-nine players in the rotation all running it back.
"I think it's great to have those teammates that have been there and really like pouring into her, and especially Destiny, having that friendship and their relationship," Green said. "She can kind of tell her, 'Hey, this isn't just you, it's all part of the process, you're essentially a freshman here. You're going to understand this just day by day.'"
Continue reading...
