Jared McCain attended Centennial High School in Sacramento, CA. He was named the Gatorade California Player of the Year after both his junior and senior seasons. After scoring 18.0 points a game as a senior. McCain was named a McDonald's All-American and was rated by 247Sports with 5 stars. ESPN also rated him as a 5-star and as the No. 10 player nationally.
McCain was part of gold medal winning USA U18 National Team in Mexico during the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.
McCain had offers from Gonzaga, Kansas, Duke and Houston among others. He decided on Duke and initially committed on March 18, 2022.