R.J. Barrett, The Most Decorated High School Basketball Player

Over the past year, Canada native R.J. Barrett became the most decorated high school basketball player since a halfway-decent athlete named lebron james. Now R.J. Is leading an absolutely stacked team at duke university, where hell show out for one season before he's off to NBA superstardom. Believe it.

- Franklyn Calle

Standing on the rooftop of the Thompson Hotel in downtown Toronto, R.J. Barrett is staring at the ever-evolving skyline. He’s in his native country for a three-game, two-city tour with his Duke Blue Devils squad. The 6-7 wing and his teammates are the talk of the city. A family friend pulls out his phone to show that courtside seats for the game against Ryerson University are on StubHub for as much as $5,000. Five thousand American dollars, that is.

“I find it kind of crazy that I get to play in front of everyone I love at home with my brothers,” Barrett says. “I definitely didn’t expect this. I was really excited because it’s right in my city—my hometown—[and] I wanted to show the guys Canada. Not a lot of people have been to Toronto.”

While Duke features one of the most star-studded, top-heavy recruiting classes in recent history—Barrett, along with fellow freshmen Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish, were ranked as the top three recruits in the Class of 2018 coming out of high school—R.J., as the hometown hero, is the main draw this week in The North.

Although the view from the outdoor deck provides a tranquil ambiance, it doesn’t mean R.J. doesn’t draw a crowd, even on a relatively quiet Tuesday afternoon. There are ESPN cameras trailing R.J. and the rest of the squad during the off-season as part of a docu-series expected to air before the start of the season. Nonetheless, R.J. and family seem to embrace it all, understanding the impact that his status at Duke will bring not only to college basketball, but to his native country as well.