Nod caps Barrett’s dream year
Duke-bound Mississauga star earns top U.S. high school award
Aseason that began with a jaw-dropping individual performance and a historymaking Canadian basketball accomplishment has ended in another allAmerican honour for teenager R.J. Barrett.
The 17-year-old from Mississauga was named the Gatorade United States player of the year on Thursday night, capping a magical year for the prep school senior guard.
“This is an amazing honour,” Barrett said in a telephone interview.
Barrett was given the award by Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, a former Gatorade player of the year. “I sure wasn’t expecting that,” Barrett said.
Barrett’s win comes after a senior high school season at Florida’s Montverde Academy in which he led the Eagles to a perfect 32-0 season. He averaged 29.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists while maintaining a 3.14 grade-point average. He was named MVP in five tournaments — in China, Hawaii, South Carolina, Massachusetts and New Jersey — in his senior year.
The son of long-time Canadian national team star Rowan Barrett is the No. 1-ranked high school prospect in the United States and has committed to Duke for the 2018-19 NCAA season.
“It’s definitely been a lot of excitement,” he said. “A lot of hard work going into all of this.”
Barrett’s dream year began with a eyepopping 38-point performance against the defending champion U.S. in the semifinals of the FIBA under-18 world championship, where he led Canada to its first global title with 22 points in the gold-medal game.
“He’s a special, special young talent,” Canadian under-19 head coach Roy Rana said after that tournament.
Barrett will be eligible to play for the Canadian under-18s at the FIBA Americas qualification tournament in St. Catharines in June. He’s also eligible to play for the Canadian senior team in late June and early July to conclude the first stage of qualifying for the 2019 worlds.