Get to Know Your Orange Man: #36, DB Ja’Had Carter

Name: Ja’Had Carter

Position: Defensive back

Year: Freshman

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 191 lbs.

Hometown: Richmond, Va.

High School: Jireh Prep Academy (N.C.)

2019 stats: Not much to report out of his year at Jireh Prep, though he was a dynamic two-way player at Henrico High School before heading to Jireh.

2020 projections: Never say never on the Syracuse Orange changing up the depth chart at the defensive back positions. However, he’s a redshirt candidate for the time being given the combination of experienced depth and rising players with a year under their respective belts already.

How’d he get here?: He was set to go to Virginia Tech before he took the year at prep school. Carter had offers the second time around from Texas Tech, FAU and Marshall. But obviously preferred the Orange.

What’d recruiting sites say?: 247Sports and ESPN both said three stars, while Rivals only said two. That’s just your opinion, though, John Q. Rivals.

Money quote: It’s a pretty good sign when your coach thinks you’re already a pretty good coach. Per Jireh coach Ryan Williams’s note to Syracuse.com —

“He basically coached our secondary this year.”

Twitter feed: @jayalmighty6

Tweets of wonder: “Why so Syracuse?”

What movie would Dino recommend for him?: We opt for 2005’s Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson. In real life, Coach Carter was in Richmond, Calif. (in NorCal), not Ja’Had’s hometown in Virginia. The fact that Ja’Had appears to have some coaching prowess already, though, makes this comparison work out pretty well.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Ja’Had is not the only current Syracuse player to spend some time at Jireh Prep. Fellow defender Drew Tuazama also spent a year at the North Carolina preparatory school.

Let’s get a look at ya: Hudl up.