R.J. Barrett has finally found a college hoops home.
The 17-year-old Canadian hoops prodigy finally picked his college of choice on Friday, announcing live on ESPN that he would play next season for Duke as a freshman next season.
Barrett announced his pick on Canadian sports network TSN on Friday, committing to play for Coach K on national television as college hoops fans craned their collective necks to America’s Hat to see who swings the recruiting class of the the nation’s top programs.
On Friday, Barrett announced his pick by standing up and revealing a No. 21 Duke Blue Devils uniform.
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The 6’6, 180-pound wing had plenty of offers throughout college basketball. The small forward is seen as the top recruit in the 2018 class, and he shined for Team Canada at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Cairo. After the tournament, Barrett decided to reclassify so he could enter college in 2018 and be eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft. Barrett reportedly decided between finalist schools Duke, Kentucky, and Oregon.
As Ben Simmons said earlier in the week, college basketball can be a dirty game but it is a necessity for someone born in North America who wants to play in the NBA. Barrett has made his pick, and the Blue Devils will now reap the benefits of that pick – for at least one season.
