During weekend Philly trip, Syracuse basketball staff was in for 4-star Carter Smith

Before its game on Saturday afternoon against Drexel in Philadelphia, which would end up being a 30-point romp for Syracuse basketball, the Orange coaching staff was in for a recruiting target in the City of Brotherly Love.

According to recruiting analysts, 'Cuse coaches on Saturday morning were in for 2028 four-star combo guard and top-70 national prospect Carter Smith. Later that day, the 'Cuse would beat the Dragons, 80-50, at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

In late August, the 6-foot-4 Smith attended the Orange's annual Elite Camp. On August 25, Smith said via his X page that he had picked up a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse, and it was his first Division I offer, which is awesome. He is one of at least 11 prospects in the 2028 class who have received an offer from the Syracuse basketball coaching staff.

Smith is a sophomore at the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. Former Orange recruiting target Matt Gilhool, who is a freshman forward at LSU, also attended William Penn Charter.

Syracuse basketball is in pursuit of 2028 4-star guard Carter Smith.

Within the 2028 cycle, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite places Smith at No. 69 overall, No. 11 at combo guard and No. 5 in Pennsylvania.

Not long after landing his 'Cuse offer, Smith chatted with national analyst Patrick O'Brien, who is the director of operations at Phenom Hoops. Smith said of his scholarship offer from the Orange, "Syracuse is a great program with great history, so it definitely feels good to get a school like that as my first offer."

Other college squads that have shown some level of interest in Smith include Oklahoma, Marquette and Villanova, among others. In describing his all-around game, Smith said, "I like to get to the rim a lot. That is what I’m best at right now. I take pride in my defense and try to communicate as much as I can. This summer, I focused on developing a mid-range game and making the right reads coming off ball screens."

During the spring and summer, Smith played well for the 15U squad of the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike's EYBL league. In the EYBL regular season, he averaged 12.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 blocks per game.

In July, at Nike's annual Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., Team Final made the quarterfinals in the 15U division. There, Smith averaged 11.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest.