The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2019 has decided to reclassify into the Class of 2018. Moving up a grade will allow Barrett, a native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, to enter college next season. And at the end of the day it’s about putting yourself in the best situation to get to the League as soon as possible. Now the question is: will he be able to overtake the throne in the Class of 2018 and sit atop as the top prospect like he was in 2019?
With rumors of Marvin Bagley III potentially reclassifying into the Class of 2017 and heading off to college this fall instead, it will likely be him and Zion fighting for the top spot. The 6-7 wing, who can play both guard positions as well as at small forward, had as great of a summer as anyone in prep hoops.
First, he led the prestigious Nike EBL circuit in scoring during the regular season, averaging 28.0 points per game. Then he joined the Canadian National Team at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Egypt and led the tourney in scoring with 21.6 points per game while also leading the North American nation to the gold medal, which included a semifinals upset against a talent-loaded Team USA–he posted 38 points and 13 rebounds that night.
Now as he prepares for his senior season at Montverde, chatter surrounding his recruitment is about to reach new levels.
More from his diary post in USA Today:
Well, after thinking things over with my family for a while I have officially decided to reclassify to the 2018 class.
Really, it’s been a thought of mine for the last year, but I wanted to wait and see how the season would go and how school would go and when everything went well it became more and more real so I made the decision to go ahead and do it.
I’m right on track to graduate in 2018 and academically everything is great.
I can’t say that there was one thing that tipped my decision to reclassify; but it was more a collective decision based on the whole year.
My family and I feel like this will be beneficial for me because I’m ready to move up and to be in college a year earlier.
Obviously, I was ranked No. 1 in the 2019 class and now that I’m moving up to 2018 my goal won’t change.
I still want to be the best player in the class and the only way to make that happen is through hard work. We work really hard at Montverde so I know another year there won’t do anything but benefit me.
