DURHAM, N.C. — The video lasts 11 seconds.

And all things considered? It’s … pretty ordinary. Just two high school kids, in mismatched sweat suits, trying to synchronize some basic choreography to a snippet of TisaKorean’s “Aero (Blow the Whistle).” It’s not bad, per se; just not mind-blowing.

So, an average TikTok video.

But almost four years and 44,000 views later, that video is so much more than average — mostly because of what came after it. Jared McCain never could’ve known so at the time, back when he was a high school freshman, but that TikTok post — his first one — set him on the path to becoming a social media sensation.

Today, the Duke freshman guard is a legitimate TikTok star, as evidenced by his 2 million followers and the 113.4 million likes his videos have generated. By comparison, USC freshman Bronny James has 5.8 million TikTok followers, while North Carolina star big man Armando Bacot has just over 40,000. (A TikTok from the McDonald’s All-American game featuring both James and McCain dancing at midcourt has attracted 12.6 million views to date). McCain’s most-viewed clip is from March 17, 2022 — one day before he committed to the Blue Devils — in which he and his mom, Jina, dance to Willow Smith’s “Wait a Minute.” That has over 19 million views.

@jaredmccain24I commit tomorrow to a school 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏 @overtimefits♬ original sound – Niana Guerrero

McCain regularly hits seven figures these days. Just last week, a video of him pouring syrup on pancakes garnered 21,800 thousand views … in the first half hour after it was uploaded.

“Ay, if any of you guys need help,” McCain told reporters last month, “I got you. Especially with dancing.”

McCain first decided to post on the platform around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — “when I knew I couldn’t be made fun of at school,” he jokes. The Sacramento, Calif., native always loved dancing growing up, and after watching certain routines rise to social media popularity, figured he’d give them a try. “I was like, I can do exactly what they’re doing,” he says, “(people) with these big followings.” So, he did. And while McCain didn’t blow up immediately — it took about seven months of activity, until his 54th post, to crack a million viewers — he steadily grew his audience over that time.