Syracuse basketball first-year head coach Gerry McNamara and his staff have turned to the City of Brotherly Love with their latest offer. Well, actually, it's a re-offer, but that's just semantics.
McNamara and his assistants are officially in pursuit of 2028 four-star combo guard Carter Smith from Philadelphia. The 6-foot-4 Smith, in late August of last year, took an unofficial visit to the Hill to participate in the Orange's annual Elite Camp.
Around that time, he disclosed a scholarship offer from the former 'Cuse staff, led by then-head coach Adrian Autry. Then, on Monday via his Instagram page, Smith noted that he had been re-offered a scholarship by the new Syracuse basketball staff, under McNamara.
After a conversation with Head Coach Gerry McNamara, 2028 Team Final/Penn Charter (PA) G Carter Smith picks up his latest offer from Syracuse. pic.twitter.com/SJbPT46nmH
— THE MILLER REPORT ™️ (@Miller_Report) June 15, 2026
A huge congrats to Carter! I should add that the 2028 contact period opened on June 15, meaning that college coaches can now start initiating direct communication (phone calls, texts, video calls, etc.) with prospects in the rising high school junior class, including Smith, who is a top-65 national prospect and a top-10 combo guard in his cycle, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
Syracuse basketball has re-offered a talented Philadelphia guard.
Smith is a standout at the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, a program that the Orange staff has recruited in recent years. Per MaxPreps, in the 2025-26 campaign, Smith averaged 19.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals per contest while making 47 percent from the field.
Other recent offers from Smith, according to social media posts, include Georgetown, Penn State and Virginia Tech. Last November, the former Orange staff was in for Smith at William Penn during a weekend trip to Philadelphia as the 'Cuse played - and defeated - Drexel by 30 points at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
On the AAU circuits this spring and summer, Smith is suiting up for the 16U squad of the Philadelphia-based Team Final in Nike's EYBL league. So far, for Team Final, Smith is averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.7 steals per game while connecting on 58.9 percent from the field. He has received high praise from analysts and scouts for his performances on the EYBL circuit in the current AAU season.
Last weekend was a scholastic live period where players competed for their high school teams. William Penn participated in the DMV Live event. The Syracuse basketball staff was out and about this past weekend amid the live period, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Orange was in for Smith at DMV Live, where he averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per encounter while hitting on 51.0 percent from the field.
The former Orange coaching staff had offered a scholarship to at least 13 prospects in the 2028 class. McNamara and his assistants likely will ramp up their recruiting efforts in 2028 shortly, given the contact period has opened.
One other 2028 player to monitor is five-star Canadian wing Isaiah Hamilton, who will spend the upcoming 2026-27 season at the powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. In mid-May, amid a live period on the AAU circuits, Syracuse basketball coaches watched Hamilton as he played for the 16U team of the Toronto-based Canada Elite in the Under Armour Association ("UAA") league.
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