Duke's Barrett declares for NBA draft
Duke freshman RJ Barrett has declared for the 2019 NBA Draft.
"It was a dream of mine to play at Duke ever since I was a young kid," Barrett announced on social media Wednesday. "It's also a dream of mine to play in the NBA and have great success there. After discussing with my family and coaches, I've decided that I'll be declaring for the 2019 NBA Draft."
Barrett leaves the program a consensus first-team All-American after a season in which he averaged 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists over 28 appearances.
As is typical for Duke, it featured multiple highly recruited freshmen this year, including Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones. The Blue Devils bested Florida State to win the ACC Tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, where they were defeated by Michigan State.
Barrett is widely considered a top-five pick in June's entry draft and will become the latest in a run of Canadian lottery picks this decade, following Tristan Thompson (2011), Anthony Bennett (2013), Kelly Olynyk (2013), Andrew Wiggins (2014), Nik Stauskas (2014), Trey Lyles (2015), Jamal Murray (2016), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2018). Bennett and Wiggins are the only Canadians to be selected No. 1 overall.