Duke next stop for phenom Barrett
He’s been one of the most soughtafter basketball talents his age for years, fielding interest from countless schools.
In the end, R.J. Barrett went with what felt most like home.
The 17-year-old from Mississauga will play NCAA basketball next season at Duke, announcing his muchanticipated decision Friday night in a posh affair at a golf club just outside Toronto.
“I feel like I could have gone anywhere and done well at basketball, so it was really stuff off the court,” said Barrett, who’d narrowed his choices to Duke, Kentucky and Oregon.
Barrett is regarded as the world’s best 17-year-old player, and last summer earned MVP honours in leading Canada to an historic gold medal at the FIBA under-19 World Cup, despite being one of the tournament’s youngest players. He didn’t ultimately settle on a school, he said, until the beginning of this week. He’d talked at length with dad, Rowan, who played basketball for Canada at the 2000 Olympics, and mom, Kesha, a track athlete in college.
“It came down to the smaller things,” Rowan Barrett said. “For R.J., he felt (Duke) most similarly represented the school he’s currently in, so he felt a comfort level.”
Dozens of relatives, friends and members of Toronto’s basketball community cheered as Barrett announced his decision, then held up a white and blue Duke jersey.
The six-foot-six wing will graduate from Montverde Academy in Florida this spring, and was looking forward to flying back Sunday to focus on his squad’s quest for a national title. Why R.J. Barrett — with “a little James Harden in him” — has what it takes to go first overall in 2019: Feschuk, S1