Breakout High School Basketball Star Jazelle “GG” Banks on Her Next Big Move

Given the endless cycle of trades, injuries, and off-court drama that proliferates in college and professional sports, only the most significant happenings break through the noise. . Midway through October, ESPN has named five stories as such when sharing them on Instagram: Indiana adding a top recruit to its men’s basketball team and a Detroit Piston extending their contract; the retirement of an NHL player and the lower-body injury of another; and one of the most anticipated announcements in women’s sports—high school basketball star Jazelle “GG” Banks committing to play at the University of South Carolina under coach Dawn Staley.

As recently as five years ago similar news only broke on ESPN’s women’s channel, espnW, and the young players headed to college were known for their talent on the court and little if not nothing else. But Banks is dribbling into an era of women’s sports marked by lucrative NIL deals, social media stardom, and record-breaking WNBA contracts and viewership.

The 17-year-old Wilmington, Delaware native has nearly 19,000 Instagram followers and over 114,000 on TikTok. Her mesmerizing plays routinely go viral, and she received roughly 44 Division I offers, elite programs LSU and the University of Texas among them. Within moments of meeting Banks—or scrolling through her IG feed—you’ll clock the spark that has the sports world abuzz.

When we catch up with the high school senior, it’s a sunny afternoon in Springfield, Virginia, where she attends The St. James Academy, and she’s the car, enjoying a snack before practice. Even over an iPhone Zoom, her passion for basketball is palpable. “I started playing when I was about four [and] I really fell in love with the game when I was about seven,” she says, adding that she went from playing with boys to competing against girls two and three grades above her.

Banks spent seventh through tenth grade playing at Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, where she was coached by John Noonan and played on Tamika Dudley’s AAU team. When Dudley was named director of girls basketball at St. James, she called Banks’s parents proposing that the teen transfer to St. James and move in with Dudley. Though initially indecisive, “when I really thought about it, I've been with Coach Dudley for a while now,” Banks says. “I trust her with my whole process, so I went for it. It was a great opportunity and God put [it] in front of me. I didn't want to take it for granted.” She immediately felt at home. “They treat me like their own,” Banks says of living with Dudley and her family. “I love and appreciate them so much. It’s amazing how I got so comfortable with them so fast.”

After averaging 14.3 points and 5.4 assists her junior year—while also competing on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit as a member of Kevin Durant’s team—Banks describes her summer as “amazing,” owing much of its thrill to winning a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup in Irapuato, Mexico. “Once I made the team, I don't want to say I was in shock, but it was just like, wow, I'm representing my country,” Banks says. “It was such a blessing… going to a whole different country, meeting new players, playing for a college coach. [That’s] something I will never, ever forget.”

Equally fresh in her mind is her return to Overtime’s elite high school girls basketball league, Overtime Select. Named her team’s captain for the third year in a row, Banks recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals in a semifinals game. The highlight reel became her most viral post to date. “The basketball part you can see that for yourself,” Banks says of Overtime Select, “but behind the scenes, them helping you build your image and build your own brand, it's just amazing.”

Though social media is now a pillar of Banks’s brand, it took years of begging for her parents to let her join Instagram—”[they] just kept saying ‘no’,” Banks says—and when they did, her mother managed the account’s password and screened all the DMs until just two years ago. “I was able to post stuff, but my mom could just take it off if she wanted to,” Banks says. In retrospect, she understands why. “Honestly, I’m very grateful for them not allowing me to have it so young. They probably wanted to protect me from a lot of stuff, and the internet is really mean sometimes. But since they’ve let me post freely, I feel like I'm doing a great job managing it. I try to zone out all the negative stuff.”

Five years into the high school and collegiate NIL era, Banks has landed her deals with e.l.f. Cosmetics, Gatorade, and Target. Her popularity is of course largely driven by her skills (she says her biggest strength on the court is her vision—always having her head up and seeing the floor well) but her personal style and flair add to her magnetism.

“I stick with this: If you feel good, you're going to play good,” Banks says. “If I'm not looking good, I'm not going to feel good.” Her sneakers of choice are Kobes, and she prefers them in bright colors for two reasons: to match her energetic personality, and so her grandmother can easily spot her on the court. Banks usually plays with her hair in two braids, or zig-zag, straightback cornrows. “Those are two hairstyles that I know, respectfully, I’m going to kill you in.”

With the whirlwind of college visits behind her, Banks is back to her daily schedule. She’s up at 7 a.m., in the classroom from 10–11 a.m., then has about two hours for lunch and studying. She practices on the court from 1–4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and lifts in the gym afterwards before heading home. Unless she has a game, Banks goes home to Delaware on the weekends, where her parents, . “I'm a big family-oriented person, so as much time as I get when I go home, I love to spend with my family,” she says. “Whether that's going on walks, going on drives, taking my little sister out to have some fun, those are things that I really enjoy. As a basketball player, you have a lot going on. You’re sometimes in hotels more than you're at your house, so to enjoy time with your loved ones that you may not see that much, it means a lot.”

As she prepares for college, Banks is reminding herself to follow the same advice she has for younger athletes: “Go at your own pace; everybody’s journey is different… don’t get down on yourself; the confidence piece is very important… as long as you still have fun with the game, believe in yourself, and keep building your craft, you'll be good.”

Banks is confident that she’ll be good as her basketball career continues. Staley, she says, was one of her earliest basketball influences. “South Carolina was a school that I looked at when I was younger and was like, "Ooh, I could picture myself there. It’s just like, Wow—dreams are turning into reality."