Rowan Alexander “RJ” Barrett Jr. is a Canadian basketball player who plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). RJ Barrett was chosen as the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Knicks after playing for the Duke Blue Devils for one year.
Barrett was born in Toronto to a former basketball player, Rowan Barrett. He showed his skills at St. Marcellinus Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, before transferring to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.
He was considered a top recruit in the 2018 class, winning Naismith Prep Player of the Year and Gatorade National Player of the Year awards in his final year of high school. He played as a shooting guard for most of the season and was ranked the top player in his class by all recruiting services.
He was also the first player since LeBron James to sweep all major awards in high school and win the national championship. RJ Barrett led the Canadian national under-19 team to a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup and was named the tournament’s MVP. He made his debut for the senior team during qualification for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
RJ Barrett Biography
RJ Barrett Jr. is a basketball player who plays for the New York Knicks in the NBA. Before joining the NBA, RJ Barrett played for Duke University in 2018-2019. He was born on June 14, 2000, in Toronto, Canada, and is 22 years old. Barrett is 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 214 pounds.
He was also a high school basketball star at St. Marcellinus in Ontario, Canada, and Montverde Academy in Florida, USA. RJ Barrett was selected by the New York Knicks in the 2019 NBA draft as the 3rd overall pick. Since then, he has been playing for the Knicks.
Barrett has won many awards and honors, including being named a Consensus first-team All-American, winning the Jerry West Award, and being named to the First-team All-ACC and the ACC All-Freshman team in 2019. He was also named the National high school player of the year in 2018 and the FIBA Under-19 World Cup MVP in 2017.
RJ Barrett Father | Mother
RJ. Barrett is a Canadian basketball player who was born in Toronto. His dad, Rowan Barrett, also played basketball and was a member of the Canadian national team. Rowan Sr. later became the executive vice president and general manager of Canada Basketball.
RJ. is the godson of Steve Nash, who is a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and former head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. R.J.’s mom, Kesha Duhaney, is from Brooklyn and was a nationally ranked sprinter and long jumper.
RJ. has a younger brother named Nathan who also plays basketball. R.J. can speak French, and his family has a history of athleticism with relatives who have competed in track and football.
Early Career
He is the son of Rowan Barrett Sr., a former national team member and current general manager of the Canadian men’s national basketball team. By age 15, he was generally playing the point guard position. He scored 37 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a game when he was 14 years old.
RJ Barrett is a Canadian basketball player who was born in Toronto. He became interested in basketball as a child and played with a mini hoop in his playroom while living in France where his dad played basketball professionally.
Barrett lived in several countries due to his father’s job and played basketball with kids his age in the clubs his father was a part of. RJ Barrett settled in Mississauga, Ontario with his family when his dad retired from professional basketball.
He was involved in other sports like football, sprinting, and high jump but decided to focus on basketball after a tough game. He trained with Steve Nash, his godfather and father’s friend.
With his dad’s guidance, Barrett became one of the best under-12 players in Ontario, leading his school team to a city title and playing for the Regional Elite Development Academy (REDA) under-12 program.
He was identified as one of the best players in his age group and trained with the Canada Basketball junior academy. RJ Barrett attended École Secondaire Jeunes Sans Frontières, a French language school in Brampton, during grades seven and eight.
Recruiting
R.J. Barrett was a highly rated basketball player while studying at St. Marcellinus Secondary School. He was considered the top Canadian prospect in the 2019 class and was ranked as the No.1 overall recruit in the class of 2018.
Many top universities offered him scholarships, including Arizona, Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, and USC. Roy Rana, his coach at the 2017 FIBA Under-19 World Cup and Nike Hoop Summit, described Barrett as a potential superstar down the road.
Eventually, Barrett narrowed down his choices to five schools: Duke, Arizona, Oregon, Kentucky, and Michigan. He announced on November 10, 2017, that he would be attending Duke for the 2018–2019 season, stating that it felt like home and that he loved Coach K and Duke.
College Career
In his first college basketball game, Barrett scored 33 points and had six assists, breaking a Duke University record. He went on to earn the title of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Week and the ACC Player and Freshman of the Week twice each.
He also achieved a triple-double during the season, which is rare and highly valued in basketball. At the end of the season, he was named a member of several prestigious basketball teams, including the All-ACC First Team.
RJ Barrett continued to play well during the NCAA Tournament, leading his team to a victory in one game. After his freshman season, he decided to enter the NBA draft and end his college career.
High School Career
Rowan Barrett Jr is a Canadian former basketball player and current executive. He began his high school career at St. Marcellinus Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, and competed for the Brampton Warriors AAU team through the REDA.
In 2015, he transferred to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, where he played until 2018. He was considered one of the top high school basketball players in the United States, and was named the National Player of the Year in 2018.
He went on to play for Duke University and was drafted third overall by the New York Knicks in the 2019 NBA Draft. He currently serves as the executive vice-president and general manager of the Canadian men’s national basketball team.
National Team Career
Barrett played on Canada’s under-16 national team that won second place at the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. He scored 14.6 points per game, leading his team in scoring.
At the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain, he averaged 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, earning him a spot on eurobasket.com’s All-World Cup U17 Second Team.
In July 2017, Barrett scored 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a game against the US, helping Canada’s under-19 squad win 99-87 at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.
He led Canada to the championship, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the final game, earning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award and a spot on the All-Star Five team.
He was also the tournament’s leading scorer, averaging 21.6 points per game. In June 2018, he played his first game with Canada’s senior men’s national team and scored 16 points in a win over China. On May 24, 2022, RJ Barrett agreed to play with the Canadian senior men’s national team for the next three years.
Professional Career
The New York Knicks drafted Barrett as the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He officially signed with the Knicks on July 3, 2019, and made his NBA debut on October 23, 2019. RJ Barrett had a career-high 27 points in a game against the Atlanta Hawks on December 17, 2019.
He also tied his career-high with 27 points in a game against the Houston Rockets on March 2, 2020. RJ Barrett averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steal per game in his rookie season, appearing in 56 games and starting in 55.
In the 2020-21 season, the Knicks exercised their third-year option on Barrett on December 21, 2020. RJ Barrett made significant improvements, finishing with 17.6 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. He also improved his shooting, finishing the season with a 40.1 percent three-point shooting percentage and a 74.6 percent free throw percentage.
He started in all 72 games during the shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, playing 34.9 minutes per game. The Knicks made the playoffs for the first time in eight years but lost 4-1 in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks.
In the 2021-22 season, RJ Barrett continued to improve. He scored a career-high 46 points in a game against the Miami Heat on February 25, 2022. He also became the youngest player in Knicks history to average 20 points per game for a season at 21 years old.
On September 1, 2022, RJ Barrett re-signed with the Knicks on a four-year, $120M deal, becoming the first player since Charlie Ward in 1999 to agree to a multiyear extension after a rookie deal with the Knicks.
Girlfriend | Is He Married?
RJ Barrett, a basketball player in the NBA, has a girlfriend named Hailey Brown. Hailey is also a basketball player from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. ((clutchpoints.com)) She was a top prospect in high school and played for St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School and the Rise Center Academy.
She is now a player for the Michigan Women’s Basketball team. Hailey is also an entrepreneur who started her own hair extension business after college. RJ and Hailey have been dating since 2018, before RJ started playing in the NBA.
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