Caroline's maternal grandfather was J. C. Caroline, who was a running back for Illinois and led the nation in rushing as a sophomore in 1953 before playing 10 seasons for the Chicago Bears, primarily as a defensive back. His father, Simeon Rice, was an All-America defensive end at Illinois in 1994 and 1995 and was picked third in the NFL draft and played 12 NFL seasons. His mother Jayna Caroline, was a track athlete in high school and graduated from Illinois. Growing up, Jordan never felt any pressure to play football though did dabble in the sport as well as swimming, though he focused on basketball. In middle school he played on the same AAU program, Team Trouble, as future Loyola-Chicago forward Donte Ingram. Caroline went to Edison Middle School in Champaign, IL. Caroline played two years of high school basketball for Champaign Central High School before transferring to Montverde Academy. Playing alongside Ben Simmons and D'Angelo Russell, Caroline helped the team to back-to-back national titles in 2013 and 2014.
College career
Caroline was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team at Southern Illinois. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as a freshman. After the season, decided to transfer and received scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Xavier and Minnesota before picking Nevada. Caroline was named Most Outstanding Player of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in December 2016 after contributing 20 points and 12 rebounds in a 67-66 win over UC Santa Barbara. Caroline earned Second-team All-Mountain West and Mountain West Tournament MVP honors his sophomore season in leading Nevada to a tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth. He averaged 15.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Coming into his junior season, Caroline was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team. As a junior, he averaged 17.7 points and a Pack-leading 8.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field. Caroline was a first-team All-Mountain West selection by the conference coaches and media, first-team NABC District 17 and a USBWA District VIII selection. He was named to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team and led the Wolf Pack to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 after comeback wins over Texas and Cincinnati. Caroline tested the waters of the 2018 NBA draft, but ultimately opted to return to Nevada for his senior season. Coming into his senior season, Caroline was named to the Preseason MWC Team. On March 2, 2019, Caroline scored his 2,000th career point in a loss to Utah State. He punched a glass fire extinguisher near the locker room after the game as part of a fracas in the handshake line. Caroline finished his senior season averaging 17.0 points per game, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game despite straining his Achilles late in the season. Caroline also broke the Mountain West record for the most double doubles in a career previously held by Utah’sAndrew Bogut.
Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, a day later on June 20, Caroline signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. On September 5, 2019, Caroline was reported to have underwent successful surgery on his left 5th metatarsal and was expected to be sidelined for about ten to twelve weeks. On October 4, the Lakers waived Caroline. He was then added to the roster or the Lakers’ NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. On January 3, 2020, Caroline posted 20 points, five rebounds and an assist in a loss to the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Caroline had a groin injury in January and missed the remainder of the G League season. He averaged 11.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. On May 15, 2020, Caroline signed with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
