Sacramento native, superstar junior returns Saturday to play for a state basketball title

When Jared McCain moved to Southern California from the comfort of Sacramento County, he didn’t know many people. They didn’t know him, either. He didn’t know his way around his new surroundings. But he knew and understood basketball and the comforts of a gym and a ball.

Now a junior at Centennial High School in Corona, McCain is one of the prominent young faces in all of prep basketball, so much so that he is up for national player of the year honors. The 6-foot-3 guard is the star player on one of the nation’s best teams. The Huskies of Corona take their 29-game winning streak and 32-1 record up against Modesto Christian in the state open division championship game Saturday night at Golden 1 Center.

It will be a homecoming of sorts for McCain, who moved south before his eighth-grade year in a basketball move, to raise his competition level and, in theory, his scholarship hopes. It’s worked out. He has also become a social media sensation, with more than 235,000 Instagram followers and nearly 1 million TikTok followers.

McCain has full scholarship offers from a handful of the biggest programs in the country: Duke, Gonzaga, UCLA, Kansas, Louisville, Houston, San Diego State, Stanford, Texas Tech and USC. He is a five-star recruit on 247Sports, the 23rd-ranked player in the nation and third-ranked player in California by those recruiting services.

As a result, he expects a large crowd at Golden 1 to support him. That includes friends, family and old teammates who grew up with him. Local fans want to watch him, too. According to TicketMaster, reserved seats for the open division boys’ and girls’ championship games are already sold out.

“It’s going to be surreal,” McCain said. “I’m smiling thinking about it. My hands get all sweaty. It’s going (to be) an amazing feeling stepping on that court.”

Jared’s father, Lance added, “This is a very exciting time. We know so many people. There are so many basketball folks around Sacramento. We are happy to go back to Sacramento and see people we haven’t seen in forever. Our phones were blowing up with people saying they were going to come to the game. It’s a really good feeling.”

Taking a leap of faith

After attending Sacramento Country Day during elementary school and sixth grade, McCain transitioned into being home-schooled. In the summer of 2018, he moved in with a family friend in the Askew family to attend Above and Beyond Athletics Academy in Southern California.

One of the Askew sons, Devin, was playing basketball at national powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. McCain worked out with older kids, including Devin, at the gym. This is also when McCain started to get noticed by college recruiters. His first scholarship offer came from Eastern Washington when he was in eighth grade.

“It was definitely a little hard,” McCain said. “It was new for me being in Los Angeles and being in a new city. You don’t really know a lot of people out here. Everyone says Los Angeles has a lot of distractions, but for me, I had no friends out here, so I was just playing basketball. That was my only thing. I hung out (a lot) with Devin Askew and his younger brother, Jordan. They’re like family to us. We have known them since I was born.”

McCain added, “You walk around and you see all these big time people (in Los Angeles). Going to training with Devin, you are kind of intimidated because people don’t really know you. You work out with them but you don’t really feel in the right place. It was scary being that young and being in an environment I was very new to.”

A helpful hand from an older brother

Jared’s older brother, Jayce, grew up and went to high school in Sacramento. He started at Sacramento Country Day, like his brother, and transferred to Folsom High School his junior year in 2016.

Because of health issues, McCain missed most of his junior season of basketball at Folsom. He is now a redshirt sophomore playing basketball at Cal State San Marcos.

Jayce is one of his kid brother’s biggest supporters. During the Nike EYBL Peach Jam tournament, which is one of the biggest AAU tournaments in the country, Jayce tweeted stats, updates and promoted him. Jared’s AAU team, Team Why Not, went on to win the Peach Jam championship and he was named MVP of the tournament.

“We are super close,” McCain said on his relationship with his brother. “He is like a mentor to me. He knows a lot about basketball and I’m really appreciative of him helping me. He didn’t get the exposure he deserved when he was in high school and now he’s helping me navigate through this journey.”

It was after that tournament when Jared started receiving significant national attention. He recalls an interaction he had at a basketball camp after returning home from Georgia.

“(That tournament) is when I kinda blew up a little bit,” McCain said. “I came back and I went to this camp to watch. Kids came up and swarmed me and I thought it was crazy. People were asking me for pictures. I was so confused because (I was) the one that always looked up to the Jalen Green’s and the Josh Christopher’s in the world (of basketball). Seeing people come up to me and say I’m an inspiration — that’s crazy. … It’s one of those things you don’t really get used to. People coming up and asking for pictures and saying you’re an inspiration.”

The wow moment for McCain came when Duke offered him a scholarship in November.

“It’s surreal,” said Lance McCain, the father. “Sometimes we just look at each other. He started getting offers and then Duke offered. (When) Duke offered, it blew us away. All the people we are meeting. … It’s unbelievable. We are kinda pinching ourselves a little bit. We know how hard he has worked.”

Checking off a dream board goal

In McCain’s room is a dream board he created when he was in middle school.

It’s a checklist of things he wanted to accomplish during his high school basketball career. There are cutouts of Duke and Gonzaga, school’s that have already offered him. One of the things he hoped to accomplish was win three state championships, something that won’t be possible because COVID-19 wiped out the state basketball playoffs last season.

“It’s been a dream of mine,” McCain said of playing in a state championship. “On my goal board, I have ‘play and win a state championship’ (on there). For it to be back in (my) hometown, it’s the goal. … I started putting down colleges (on my dream board) that looked cool to me. Make the McDonald’s All-American game, Gatorade State Player of the Year and accolades I could achieve throughout my high school career (were on there). I have been checking them off ever since.”

The goal on his dream board to win three state championships stems from a conversation McCain had after watching his older brother’s final game in the state basketball playoffs against Sheldon of Sacramento. Jared recalls walking out of the gym with former Folsom McDonald’s All-American girls’ basketball player McKenzie Forbes. He told her after that comment he wanted to win at least one state championship in high school.

He will have his chance to do it Saturday night.

“I might get a little emotional after we win,” McCain said. “I remember when my brother lost to Sheldon (in playoffs) his senior year and I walked out (of the gym) with (former Folsom girls star now staring at Harvard) McKenzie Forbes. … I was young and I said ‘I’m going to get one state championship at least.’ It’s going to be crazy to hopefully fulfill that moment.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.