R.J. Barrett didn't exactly need any more accolades to prove his worth on the basketball court.
The 6-foot-7 shooting guard averaged almost 29 points per game during the 2017-18 season for Montverde (Fla.) Academy, earning the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year award and leading his team to a perfect 35-0 record, not to mention a national championship. And his talent got both nationwide and international recognition between the summer's FIBA U19 World Cup, where he was named MVP; and the GEICO Nationals in New York City.
But now the 19-year-old Duke commit has something else to tuck under his belt -- the MaxPreps National Player of the Year honor.
Barrett is the second Montverde product in just four seasons to earn the award after current Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons did so in 2014-15. Barrett is classified as the top national player in boys high school basketball after already securing his status as the No. 1 prospect of the Class of 2018 on 247Sports.
"MaxPreps has been covering Montverde ever since I got here," Barrett said, recounting his transition from his hometown in Ontario to Florida. "So to be the Player of the Year is an honor. To be able to achieve it meant a lot to me. My goal was, if God let it be, to get all the awards, and what's what it's shaping up to be so far."
The son of former Canadian-Jamaican pro and Olympic basketball player Rowan Barrett, this year's MaxPreps honoree narrowed down his college choices in October 2017 and decided on Duke the following month.
In girls basketball, Connecticut signee Christyn Williams has been named the 2017-18 MaxPreps National Player of the Year.
Like Barrett, she was also a Morgan Wootten Player of the Year and led her team to its biggest stage -- in her case, a state title. The Central Arkansas Christian star dropped 42 points in her school's state championship and has three USA Basketball medals to her name. A two-time Gatorade state player of the year, Williams was also a McDonald's All-American for averaging more than 26 points per game en route to a commitment to perennial NCAA title favorite UConn.
