NEW YORK — R.J. Barrett‘s summertime one-on-one games with Andrew Wiggins are getting closer, but don’t even try comparing the two Canadian wing players.
“I wouldn’t really call it a comparison other than the fact that I’m doing really well right now,” the soft-spoken Barrett said after going for 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists en route to MVP honors as the White team lost to the Black team, 85-73, in the Jordan Brand International Game at Barclays Center.
“I think I definitely opened some eyes,” Barrett added of his performance.
The 6-foot-7 Barrett, whose father Rowan Barrett is the Executive Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Canada Basketball, has played one-on-one with Wiggins — the former No. 1 overall pick out of Kansas — at national team events in the summer. Barrett said they weren’t close at first, but the games are getting more competitive.
“He’s R.J. Barrett, he’s not Andrew Wiggins,” Roy Rana, the Canadian youth National team coach who coached the White team, told SNY.tv. “It’s like Kevin Pangos wasn’t Steve Nash. We often make those mistakes about trying to compare players at a young age. I think we’re doing a better job in Canada just letting them breathe and be who they are.”
Fellow Canadian guard Jamal Murray was the MVP in this game in 2013, and is now projected as a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft after his freshman season at Kentucky. Barrett is seen by many as a pro prospect, too, and he’s already getting advice from Wiggins.
“Just to keep doing what I’m doing,” Barrett said Wiggins tells him. “He said there’s going to be haters, just stay true to yourself.”
Barrett would like another Canadian guard to join him for his sophomore season at Montverde (FL) Academy under Coach Kevin Boyle.
Andrew Nembhard is a 6-foot-4, 175-pound rising freshman point guard, who went for 11 points and 3 assists for the Black team. Nembhard currently attends Vaughn Secondary School, the same school that produced Wiggins, but is leaning toward joining Barrett and fellow Canadian Simi Shittu next year at Monverde. Barrett and Nembhard are teammates on the UPLAY U16 AAU team that plays CIA Bounce on Saturday at the Nike EYBL event in Brooklyn.
“Coaches call him all the time,” Barrett said of Nembhard. “We really want him there bad, I’m texting him every few seconds.”
Barrett says Nembhard could really help Montverde, which had won three straight Dick’s Sporting Goods High School National championships before falling in the semifinals this year to La Lumiere (IN).
“I think we could be really good,” Barrett said. “We were struggling at the guard spots this year including myself and he could come in and group everything together. He’s going to be a relly important key.”
Rana said the potential of both players is through the roof.
“The sky’s the limit for both of them,” he said. “They complement each other well. Andrew’s a playmaker and R.J.s’ a scorer and obviously they’ve devolped some chemistry from playing together at such a young age…The talent’s undeniable, they’re young players and you gotta be patient but they certainly have a bright futures, that’s for sure.”
Barrett said he was impressed with Nembhard’s play on Friday.
“Oh, that’s my boy,” he said. “He never stops ceasing to amaze me. When we were in the game, I could tell what he was going to do. Just let him show out, but the chemistry is really good.”
Nembhard returned the favor.
“R.J. played really well, that’s what he does, he scores,” Nembhard said.
He added: “I think we would be really good [at Montverde] because we’ve been playing well for a long time together.”
After losing stars like Wiggins (Huntington Prep), Anthony Bennett (Findlay Prep) and Tyler Ennis (St. Benedict’s Prep) to American schools, Canada has tried to keep some of its talent at home — with the creation of Athlete Institute and Orangeville Prep.
But the departures to the South of Barrett, Shittu and now Nembhard show that top Canadian talent is still leaving.
“Obviously, we’d love to keep kids home but sometimes there’s special opportunities in the U.S. or overseas, so I think we have to be open-minded,” Rana said.
Boyle has coached NBA lottery picks like Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and that is part of the appeal for these kids.
“Kevin’s proven and he’s done it for a long time,” Rana said.
A slew of colleges figure to track Montverde next season with Barrett, Shittu and Nembhard on board. Barrett’s father went to St. John’s, but the son will likely have his choice of colleges.
“I don’t know anything [about recruiting],” Barrett said. “They talk to my dad.”
Barrett says his father keeps him grounded.
“He’s been at the highest level, so I always say, ‘OK, I’ve done this,” but he’s always done more, so I’m just trying to get to where he is,” he said.
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