RJ Barrett’s arrival on the college basketball scene is coming a year early.
In a blog post for USA TODAY on Monday, Barrett, the No. 1 prospect for the class of 2019, announced that he has decided to reclassify to 2018. He also listed Arizona, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon, Texas and UCLA as the schools “showing the most interest” and mentioned Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, USC, UConn and UNLV as others that have “reached out.”
The 17-year-old Barrett, a 6-foot-7 small forward, made headlines this summer with an impressive showing at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Egypt. Barrett led all tournament scorers with 21.6 points per game and guided his native Canada to a gold-medal finish, including an upset victory over the heavily-favored United States team in the semifinal round.
Reclassifications seem to be all the rage lately, but it will be hard to complain about getting to watch Barrett’s skills at the NCAA level earlier than expected.
Image via D1 Sports Engine on YouTube
