Montverde’s Barrett commits to Duke basketball
Montverde Academy’s R.J. Barrett, projected by many to be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, committed to play college basketball at Duke on Friday.
Barrett, 18, announced the decision in a ceremony televised live nationally in his native Canada.
The 6-foot-6 left-hander scored 38 points to lead the Canada 19U team to a stunning win over the U.S. en route to its first international championship in last summer’s world tournament.
Barrett was arguably the best player on Montverde’s team as a freshman and clearly its premier talent as a sophomore last season — when he averaged 21.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
He was rated No. 1 among Class of 2019 prospects until announcing last July that he was skipping his junior year and reclassifying. Soon after, he became the consensus national No. 1 in the senior class.
Gabe Parnell led Lake Brantley to second place in Friday’s 4A state swim and dive championships.
He won the boys 100-yard breastroke ahead of Winter Park’s Hector Rodriguez, was runnerup by an eyelash in the 200 IM, and helped his team score big points in relays.
The Patriots won the 200 medley relay with juniors Jhon Moncada, Cameron Claytor and Robert Frankenstein joining Parnell.
Parnell and his younger brother, Cole, teamed with Frankenstein and Moncada to take second in the 400 freestyle relay.
Seminole was fifth and Olympia sixth in the boys team race. Oviedo’s girls finished fourth, with sophomore Abigail Gibbons scoring second and third place individual finishes.
For the first time in girls volleyball state tournament history, which dates to 1974, two Metro Conference teams will meet in a state semifinal today.
West Orange (27-0) hosts Olympia (14-17) at 2 p.m. in 9A.
The only previous time Orange County teams played a final four match was Winter Park’s win vs. Timber Creek in a 2006 state final.
West Orange beat the Titans twice in the regular season, 3-0 and 2-1 in a tournament match. Olympia would have a 22-9 record had it not forfeited eight wins due to an ineligible player.
The winner plays Nov. 18 in a state final at UNF in Jacksonville.
Hagerty, New Smyrna Beach, Bishop Moore and Lake Highland Prep all play on the road today.
Oviedo finished outside the top 10 in the boys 4A state cross country championships a year ago, but figures to make a run at the title today at Appalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
Oviedo sophomore Kayamo Galloway, a Trinity Prep transfer who won last week’s rugged Region 1 meet, leads the Lions.
Trinity Prep, winners of the past four 2A crowns, now finds itself chasing heavy favorite Jacksonville Bolles.
Mount Dora Christian, a runnerup last year, is the team to beat in the boys 1A race.
Circle Christian is in the hunt in the girls 1A race.
Montverde Academy’s girls are ranked second in 2A behind Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest.