Syracuse basketball offers guard from D.C. area, top-20 national prospect

Earlier this spring, Syracuse basketball coaches offered a scholarship to a top-20 national prospect in the rising-sophomore class who hails from the talent-rich Washington, D.C., market.

In early May, the Orange offered 2026 shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr., he revealed on Twitter. I just came across his tweet now, so I apologize for the delay in getting this news out there to my fellow Syracuse basketball recruiting enthusiasts.

The 6-foot-3 Smith recently moved into the top 20 nationwide, according to updated 2026 rankings from ESPN. While most recruiting services have yet to put out national ratings for this cycle, Smith appears to be a four-star or a five-star prospect in this class.

He attends the powerhouse St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., and runs in grassroots basketball with the Washington, D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. Orange coaches have strong recruiting ties to Smith’s high school and his AAU program.

Syracuse basketball coaches have gotten into the mix for top-20 player Jordan Smith Jr., a 2026 shooting guard.

According to his Twitter page and recruiting services, besides the ‘Cuse, Smith’s early offer sheet also includes teams such as George Mason, Providence, Mount St. Mary’s, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Maryland and Georgetown.

College coaches won’t be able to initiate direct communication with 2026 prospects until mid-June of next year, so Smith’s offer list has plenty of time to expand.

When ESPN recently published its national rankings of the top-25 prospects in the 2026 class, Smith checked in at No. 16 across the country.

One of his teammates at St. Paul VI Catholic is 2024 four-star center Patrick Ngongba II, who received a scholarship offer from the Orange coaching staff in late April. As I noted in another recent column, the ‘Cuse doesn’t appear to be a significant contender for Ngongba at this juncture in his recruiting process.

The Team Takeover program also features 2024 four-star power forward Donnie Freeman. The 6-foot-9 Freeman verbally committed to Syracuse basketball in May.

As I’ve noted on many occasions, both Orange head coach Adrian Autry and assistant coach Brenden Straughn were assistants with the Team Takeover program earlier in their careers, and Autry also previously served as an assistant coach at St. Paul VI Catholic.

To date, Syracuse basketball has offered one other 2026 prospect. Back in February, the ‘Cuse extended a scholarship offer to 2026 small forward Maximo Adams. The 6-foot-6 Adams is a rising sophomore at Narbonne High School in the Harbor City area of Los Angeles.

I’ll continue to track Smith’s recruitment moving forward, and it’s exciting that the ‘Cuse has offered this talented young man.