R.J. Barrett receives U.S. high school player of the year award in surprise ceremony

When the valet brought R.J. Barrett’s father’s car back after a dinner in Orlando Thursday night, things took an unexpected twist.

In place of the original valet, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics stepped out of the driver’s side door, with him holding a surprise for R.J.

“Welcome to the club, man,” he said.

That club: the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year fraternity.

“I was shocked, I couldn’t move,” said Barrett, after earning the top honour in U.S. high school basketball. “Then when I saw my teammates and all my family running from where they were hiding, [and] they came out running and hugging me, [there was] definitely a lot of joy.

That feeling was something Tatum knows all too well.

“It was great just to come back and present him with the award that I won two years ago — I remember how excited I was,” said the NBA rookie, and former Duke Blue Devil. “I won this award in high school, and he’s going to Duke … it just worked out.”

Tatum said the best part of presenting Barrett with the award was that he was passing it to a fellow (or future) Duke player.

“It was great,” continued Tatum. “He’s already a great player now, and hopefully he just keeps working and he’ll be fine.”

When the two basketball stars got a moment to chat after the initial surprise, Tatum left him with one piece of advice.

“Just not to be satisfied,” he said. “Be happy that you won this award, but be hungry for more. It’s going to be tough at first, transitioning from high school to college, but it doesn’t take long for the special players to make that transition.”

In 29 games with Duke, Tatum averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game before being drafted third overall into the NBA. Barrett aspires to have a similar path, and the next step is making the transition to the collegiate game.

In his senior season, Barrett led Montverde Academy to an undefeated season, averaging 29.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He earned MVP honours in five tournaments, was named a McDonald’s All-American, and earned the Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Morgan Wootten Player of the Year awards before capping his superb season with this latest honour.

In addition to that, the 6-foot-7, 200-pound guard helped Canada capture its first gold medal internationally in men’s basketball last summer at the FIBA under-19 basketball World Cup. He was named MVP after leading Canada to a 79-60 victory over Italy in the championship.

He’s also the top prospect of the 2019 class, according to ESPN.

“The undefeated season that we’ve had so far at Montverde [is the biggest highlight this season] because without that I don’t think I would be getting all these awards,” said 17-year-old Barrett. “It definitely helps a lot being undefeated and being the number one team in the country.”

But even with all of the Mississauga-native’s success this season, he’s remaining humble and continuing to put in the work to help ensure that he continues to progress at the next level.

“My dad was an Olympian, my mom ran track, so a lot of people in my family are successful,” he said. “I also go to Montverde Academy with coach Boyle who has won coach of the year five times … and my teammates are all going division one.

“Everyone else is doing big things and that keeps me grounded.”

Barrett knows he has an entire country to represent, being only the second Canadian-born player to win the Gatorade Boys Basketball National Basketball Player of the Year Award. Minnesota Timberwolves star Andrew Wiggins did it first in 2012-2013, adding his name to a list of future NBA stars to win the award, such as LeBron James (2003), Dwight Howard (2004) and Kevin Love (2007).

“It’s definitely great for the country whenever we win something,” said Barrett. “I used to look up to Andrew Wiggins when I was younger, and that’s what I’m trying to do; follow in his footsteps.”

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