Two years ago, Jayson Tatum was named the Gatorade Boys Basketball National Player of the Year. He went on to Duke, turned into a top-3 NBA Draft pick, broke into the Boston Celtics’ rotation, and has turned into one of the best rookies in the NBA. Now, he’s paying things forward for Gatorade and hooking up another member of “The Brotherhood” who also won the award.
The 2017-18 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year is R.J. Barrett, a member of Duke’s historic recruiting class who is currently tearing things up for Florida’s Montverde Academy. Alongside fellow top-3 recruits Cam Reddish and Zion Williamson, plus five-star point guar recruit Tre Jones, the future has never been brighter in Durham, which is saying something.
Tatum surprised Barrett, letting him know he won the award and presenting him with his trophy. After that went down, we caught up with the pair to talk about being the top boy’s high school player in the nation, Duke hoops, and in the case of Barrett, how excited he is for in-practice dunk contests with Williamson next year.
Jayson Tatum
UPROXX Sports: How stoked were you when you heard another Duke guy won the Gatorade National Player of the Year?
Jayson Tatum: I was excited. This is a very prestigious award to win in high school and, you know, for another guy to win it and go to Duke, it’s just a plus.
What was your favorite thing about when you got this honor?
I think the way they gave it to me. I was so surprised. Penny Hardaway was the guy that surprised me, so that was pretty cool.
Did Penny come knocking on your front door or something?
They had like a fake news conference at my school about my high school team, but Penny was acting like a fake news reporter in a disguise, he walked up with the trophy.
If you could give R.J., and I guess the whole upcoming recruiting class, one piece of advice about playing at Duke, what would it be?
Enjoy it, have fun. Try not to rush and get to the league so fast. All those guys are gonna be there in no time, but just really enjoy it. I wish time would have slowed down for me, I had so much fun when I was in college, it really was a unique experience.
How much of R.J.’s game have you seen so far?
I’ve seen a lot. Not in person, but on TV and mixtapes.
What makes you excited about watching him suit up for your school?
Just to have a big guard that’s really, really athletic. He’s a lot taller than I thought he was. His ability to do everything on the court — guys that can do everything on the court are usually successful, and hopefully all the guys can do their next year at Duke and win a championship.
What does Duke have to do to win a national title this year?
They need to be able to knock down threes. Everybody’s keying in on Marvin [Bagley] and Wendell [Carter]. Grayson [Allen], Trevon [Duval], and Gary [Trent], if they can knock down threes. They’ve got to be able to guard. They guard, knock down threes, and you just gotta get hot at the right time this time of year. If they can do that for the next five games, they’ve got the best coach.
So to be clear, you’re picking them to win it all this year?
Yeah.
We always hear about Duke being a “Brotherhood.” How have you seen that be the case in the NBA with other Duke guys?
It really is, and it’s not just the guys that you play with. It’s guys younger than you, guys older than you, like Jay Williams, J.J. Redick, Mike Dunleavy, all the Plumlee brothers, Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones, Jabari Parker, Brandon Ingram. Everybody’s just so close, no matter if you never played with each other or 15 years apart, everybody. I think it’s because we all played for the same coach. I think that’s what it really boils down to. No other program can say that.
Do you, Kyrie, and Semi ever sit in the locker room and chop it up about your time at Duke? What do you talk about?
Yeah, a little bit. I joke with Semi all the time because he transferred, I tell him he can’t say he went to Duke because he left.
What’s the biggest way that R.J. and the rest of the incoming recruiting class can continue “The Brotherhood”?
Going out there and respecting and honoring the name on that jersey like I did and the guys are doing now and the guys before me did. That’s what it’s all about, just honoring the guys that came before you.
R.J. Barrett
Uproxx Sports: How excited were you to become the latest Duke guy to win Gatorade National Player of the Year?
R.J. Barrett: I’m really excited, and I have my whole family here. It’s a great feeling.
What’s your favorite thing about getting this honor?
It was one of my goals — one of my dreams when I was younger. So to accomplish that, that’s really one of the greatest feelings.
So you when you were a young hoops player, one of the things you had on the list with go to college and make the NBA was be the Gatorade NPOY?
For sure.
We always hear about Duke being a “Brotherhood.” Have you felt that’s been a case ever since you signed, whether that’s been with your other recruits or current players or former Duke guys?
Definitely, even from before, talking to Cam, Tre, and Zion almost every day about building The Brotherhood and our goals for next year.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from a former Duke guy about playing there?
I just spoke with Jayson, he just told me it’s the greatest feeling. Coach K, he definitely lets you play. He’s a great coach so on the court, it’s just amazing.
You’re a really good dunker, Cam can fly, Zion is Zion, how excited are you for in-practice dunk contests with those two next year?
It’s gonna be fun. I’m definitely gonna challenge Zion, why not?
Who’s gonna come out on top?
His bounce can’t lie; he can do some pretty crazy stuff.
What’s your favorite thing that you’ve seen out of him so far? Is there one thing from his mixtapes that made you go “wow”?
I knew he could dunk, he could fly, and I’ve seen him do some amazing things. But when I saw him do the 360 between the legs in a game, and he missed it, I was like “What?”
My guess is it’s not even that he can do that …
… he tried it in a game!
You guys gotta get up on somebody next year and convince him to do that in front of the Cameron Crazies.
Yeah, the crowd will go wild.
I’m guessing you’ve watched a ton of Duke this year, what do they have to do to win a title?
Defense, because offense will take care of itself. That’s about it, with every team, defense wins championships.
Gonna go out on a limb and guess you’re picking them?
Oh yeah, for sure. No doubt about it.
In your eyes, what’s the biggest way that the rest of the incoming recruiting class can continue “The Brotherhood”?
Go out there and put on a show for everybody. I feel like the more players we get and the better we do, the more other recruits will wanna come, because other kids are looking up to us.
So it’s not just a “we wanna win as many games as possible” thing, it’s a “we want next generations of high school kids to go ‘I wanna go there, I wanna be the next R.J., I wanna be the next Cam, I wanna be the next Zion.’”
For sure, and it’s like, you’re a player, you always wanna be remembered and we’re trying to leave our mark, our legacy, at Duke.
