Much has been made about the collection of talent that Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils boast this season, especially among its incoming freshman class. Cameron Reddish might end up being a top-3 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Zion Williamson was created in a lab by a bunch of scientists who wanted to know what it would be like if a Cadillac Escalade was a human with the desire to dunk on everyone. Tre Jones is a potential star floor general with the ability to lock dudes down on defense. Joey Baker was the 33rd-best prospect in America and was easily the worst member of their recruiting class.
But despite all of this, it’s possible that R.J. Barrett is better than all of them. The 247Sports Composite rating agrees with this — Barrett, who reclassified into the class of 2018 and committed after Reddish and Jones, was its No. 1 player in America. He’s a smooth, 6’7 wing player who also happens to be an incredibly skilled lefty and is so good that he’s shouldering the load that is the basketball aspirations for an entire country. Not bad for someone who turned 18 a few months ago, right?
Barrett showed off just how good he is during Duke’s preseason tour of Canada, which has so far consisted of the Blue Devils rinsing Ryerson University and the University of Toronto by a combined 55 points. While the story so far has been Williamson doing hilarious stuff, Barrett led the team in scoring in both games. He dropped 34 points in his debut against Ryerson, but it was on a not great 12-for-30 shooting.
Fast forward to Friday night and Barrett was a monster against Toronto. He scored 34 points on 15-for-26 shooting and added nine rebounds for good measure. Here is a compilation of highlights from the game. They are very good.
All of this comes with the caveat of “he did this against a bunch of Canadian teams during the preseason while Reddish was out,” but Barrett showed why he’s such an impressive basketball player on both ends of the floor. He mixes his considerable talent with a high basketball IQ and a drive to be the best, which is a scary proposition.
“It’s just being competitive,” Barrett said after the game, per The News & Observer. “I think I am really good. I think I belong here.”
Duke has one more game on its preseason tour — a matchup with McGill University on Sunday — so Barrett will get one more opportunity to impress before a pair of October exhibitions and, eventually, the team’s season opener against Kentucky on Nov. 6. We’ll see if he does, but one thing is for sure: If he plays up to his talent, he very well might end up being the best player on an absolutely stacked Blue Devils squad.
Anyway, here’s a few clips of a ludicrous thing Williamson did against Toronto.
https://twitter.com/Cosmis/status/1030881304399806465
https://twitter.com/Cosmis/status/1030881504610709504
Duke being fun is going to be weird for everyone (myself included) who has grown up believing the Blue Devils are college basketball’s evil empire, but man, these guys have the potential to be super entertaining.
(Via Deadspin)
