Following a series of first overall draft picks, another Canadian born basketball star is on the rise.
RJ Barrett made his debut for the NCAA’s Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night and the 18-year-old freshman made some serious noise.
Scoring a game-high 33 points, along with six assists, Barrett set a new Duke record for most points scored by a freshman in a season opener, breaking the previous record of 25.
Even more impressive is that Barrett’s scoring barrage came against the basketball powerhouse Kentucky Wildcats, who were ranked as the second-best team in the country to start the season.
The loss goes down as the most one-sided defeat in iconic head coach John Calipari’s tenure at Kentucky.
Many experts have the Mississauga, Ontario, native going first overall in the NBA Draft next year.
It would make Barrett just the third Canadian ever to go first overall, following Anthony Bennett in 2013 and Andrew Wiggins in 2014.
For those looking to witness the basketball phenom, the fourth-seeded Blue Devils next game is this Sunday at 10 a.m. PST.
