Syracuse basketball 5-star priority target Jordan Smith named national junior of year

The accolades keep on coming for Syracuse basketball 2026 priority recruiting target Jordan Smith Jr., a five-star shooting guard and a top-five national prospect from the talent-laden Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

MaxPreps has named the 6-foot-3 Smith its national junior of the year for the 2024-25 season while also placing him on the All-America first team for his class. This is a well-deserved honor for Smith, who also scored All-America honors from MaxPreps as a sophomore.

Not too long ago, Smith also received inclusion on the 2024-25 Naismith All-America third team. He is a standout at nationally ranked St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va., which competes in the loaded Washington Catholic Athletic Conference ("WCAC").

Smith, unsurprisingly, is also on the WCAC's All-League first team. Per MaxPreps, St. Paul VI is 27-6 overall and ranked No. 11 in the country.

In 2024-25, St. Paul VI won the WCAC tournament championship, and the Panthers this past term also claimed a share or outright WCAC regular-season title for the fourth year in a row.

Syracuse basketball 2026 5-star priority recruit Jordan Smith Jr. was stellar as a junior.

The Orange coaching staff offered a scholarship to Smith in early May of 2023. Syracuse basketball coaches have recruited him extremely hard for a while now, and Smith unofficially visited the Hill last September.

According to MaxPreps, as a junior, Smith averaged 18.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest. His offensive game continues to expand and evolve, national analysts and scouts say, noting that Smith is one of the top defenders around the country, regardless of class designation.

When St. Paul VI cut down the nets in the WCAC tournament, Smith tallied a fabulous 29 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in leading the Panthers to a 58-54 victory over another top-flight team, Gonzaga College High School in D.C.

On the AAU circuit, Smith is a standout with one of the nation's best grassroots programs, the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike's EYBL league. As I've noted on numerous occasions, both Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and assistant coach Brenden Straughn have deep ties to Team Takeover.

Throughout his recruiting process, in some interviews, Smith has spoken highly of the Orange program and its coaching staff, although his offer sheet includes numerous blue-blood squads.