Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
It’s March 12th, 2023, a Sunday afternoon in the borough of Queens, and many have descended on to the campus of St. John’s University in Jamaica, as the CHSAA “AA” championship game was to be played between Archbishop Stepinac and Cardinal Hayes.
The two schools, one in White Plains, a suburban city in Westchester County and Cardinal Hayes, a school in the South Bronx, were paired up after having played the previous year in the championship game at Hofstra University in Hempstead, Long Island, with Hayes being the winner.
There were two players in this game that everyone came to see, both of whom hail from the borough of The Bronx that played for the two schools, both of whom would go on to national prominence. The players were Johnuel “Boogie” Fland and Ian Jackson, both of whom were nationally-ranked players in the high school Class of 2024.
In this game, both were on their A-game. Jackson scored 18 points and Fland, who made his presence felt and stole the show with a game-high 30 points and got his revenge, as he led the Crusaders to a 69-66 win and their first CHSAA championship since 2018.
It was a perfect ending to a great season, as both players had played each other four times throughout that season.
Fast-forward to the present day, as both Jackson and Fland are now college freshmen at high-major schools in conferences like the ACC & the SEC.
In an era where many claim that players have to leave New York City to prosper for a Division I scholarship and get to the NBA, both of them defied the odds and went against the myth and made their presence felt. Both went on to play in the 2024 McDonald’s All-American Game in Houston, Texas and the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon.
Fland went on to lead Stepinac to a second straight CHSAA championship and Jackson, who helped lead Hayes to a CHSAA “AA” championship as a sophomore in 2022, transferred to Our Saviour Lutheran, an independent school also in The Bronx, which has long been a powerhouse in New York City, and played a top-flight schedule and also played in the Overtime Elite league.
Fland would be the third player ever from Archbishop Stepinac to be selected to play in the prestigious McDonald’s game, after R.J. Davis in 2020 and Adrian “A.J.” Griffin, Jr. in 2021. Although there have been many players to come through OSL, Jackson would be the first in program history to be selected to play in the game. Both Fland and Jackson would be the first from the borough of The Bronx to participate in the game since Kemba Walker in 2008.
Now, both are making their presence felt on the college level.
Fland, who is starting at the University of Arkansas, has been playing at a high level from day one. Throughout the first four games of the season, he has averaged 16.5 points and five assists per game for the Razorbacks and has been putting up big performances, such as the matchup against the No. 8 ranked Baylor on Nov. 9th in Dallas, when he had 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Then, earlier this week against Pacific, he had a 20-point game. His breakout game was the exhibition home game on Oct. 25th against the No. 1 team in the nation at the time, Kansas, in which he gave the Jayhawks 22 points and five assists and left Bud Walton Arena with the win.
At the present time, he is shaping up to be a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, if he were to declare.
Jackson, who was a part of a loaded recruiting class at the University of North Carolina, has been coming along slowly, as part of a backcourt that includes two other players from the tri-state area in White Plains’ very own R.J. Davis and West Orange, New Jersey native Elliot Cadeau.
After playing in two of the Tar Heels’ first three games of the season, the kid they call “Captain Jack,” has averaged 7.5 points per game. After all, there is a long way to go this season, as there is still plenty of time for him to make an impact on the court. He himself is also a projected first-round pick.
This season, both of the city’s finest will be playing in one familiar place, the confines of the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden, albeit during different times.
Fland and the Razorbacks will be playing in the headlining game of the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 10th, against Michigan and the game will be televised on ESPN. Jackson and the Tar Heels will be slated to play in the first game of the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 21st against UCLA, which will be televised on CBS.
Now that they’re on a bigger stage, both players are now trendsetters, as they were the first high school players to be a part of the NIL wave as as sophomores, when they both had their own t-shirts made by a company called, Spreadshop. In regards to NIL deals at the present time, Fland is involved with a brand named, Crossover Culture and Jackson is one of a long list of young athletes signed to Adidas, including college players such as Haley Von Lith (Louisville), Karter Knox (Arkansas) and Hansel Emmanuel (Austin Peay), as well as high schoolers Kaleena Smith, Mikel Brown, Jr. and Adam Oumiddoch, the latter two of whom competed against Jackson in the Overtime Elite league just earlier this year.
One thing is for certain, both of them are success stories and they are now reaping the benefits of their labor, while also continuing to grind for the common goal: making the NBA.
One kid from the South Bronx and the other from the North Bronx made their mark on a city, and now they’re about to make their mark on the world. Both of their names may potentially be called by Adam Silver in another seven months, and when it does, their hoop dreams will be fulfilled.
Dave's JOINT 
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