Late last month, Syracuse basketball landed a commitment from four-star transfer Jaquan Carlos, a junior point guard from Coastal Athletic Association ("CAA") member Hofstra.
The addition of the 6-foot, 170-pound Carlos bolsters the Orange's backcourt depth for the 2024-25 season, particularly with sophomore point guard Judah Mintz headed to this summer's NBA Draft, while sophomore guards/wings Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland elected to enter the transfer portal.
Following the decision by Carlos to transfer to the 'Cuse, several experts told me that this new Syracuse basketball commit is a talented pass-first, pure point guard who has strong court vision, is laser-focused on making his teammates better, and gets after it on the defensive end.
Carlos can also score. It remains to be seen whether he will be the team's starting point guard in 2024-25 or comes off the bench as a key reserve. And the Orange's roster does have numerous other offensive weapons. But make no mistake about it: Carlos is a bucket-getter himself, too.
Syracuse basketball four-star PG signee Jaquan Carlos did some remarkable things in high school.
In recent days, SU Athletics put out a press release on Carlos officially joining the 'Cuse for 2024-25. There were some interesting tidbits in this announcement.
Just for some context, Carlos was a three-star prep recruit in the 2021 class out of Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. While in high school, he was a top-300 national prospect and a top-50 point guard, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.
But check this out. According to cuse.com, during his senior season, which was shortened due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he scored 92 points in one game and 90 points in a second contest. In both of those outbursts, he knocked down 10 shots from beyond the arc.
When he graduated, he was Thomas Jefferson's all-time leading scorer. Carlos averaged 20.4 points per game as a freshman, 20.5 points per contest as a sophomore, and 25.7 points per encounter as a junior.
I readily acknowledge that the high school game isn't the same as the collegiate level, particularly in a power league such as the Atlantic Coast Conference, but still, those are some incredible scoring numbers.
Carlos, who entered the portal in late March and officially visited Syracuse basketball before committing, is rated as four stars by both 247Sports and On3 in their national transfer rankings. He is also a top-50 point guard.
As Hofstra went 20-13 overall in 2023-24, Carlos averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, while he connected on 41.3 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from 3-point land, and 89.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Carlos was twice named to the CAA's All-Defensive team while at Hofstra. This past season, he dished out 19 assists against just two turnovers in a mid-February home win over Northeastern.
As a junior, Carlos reached double-figures in scoring on 19 occasions, led the CAA in assists per game, and was No. 3 in that league in assist/turnover ratio per contest.
We'll have to see how Carlos fares as he transitions in 2024-25 from the CAA to the ACC. Orange coaches are high on Carlos. I think he will prove a major contributor to Syracuse basketball in his senior campaign.