ZagsBlog
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Until this season, the influx of Canadian basketball talent hadn’t hit Montverde (FL) Academy as much as it had some of its rivals on the American national basketball landscape.
After all, current NBA players Andrew Wiggins (Huntington Prep), Anthony Bennett (Findlay Prep) and Tyler Ennis (St. Benedict’s Prep) all played elsewhere.
But beginning this season, three Canadians are playing for legendary coach Kevin Boyle at Montverde Academy and two of them — 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Simi Shittu and 6-6 freshman guard R.J. Barrett –– have all the makings of future NBA players.
Following in the foosteps of current Kentucky freshman and projected lottery pick Jamal Murray of Canada, Shittu played in the Jordan Brand International Game in 2015, and Barrett has been invited this year.
Boyle said there are now 27 total Canadians at Montverde, including three on the basketball team in Shittu, Barrett and 6-2 junior point guard Marcus Carr, who is out with an ACL injury and whom he described as a potential three-year starter at a Butler or Villanova.
“Some of the [Canadian] kids went to St. Benedict’s, a little bit to Huntington, and whatever happened there I don’t know if it was just a changing of coaches or whatever the thing was,” Boyle said last weekend at the Hoophall Classic. “I think when we started winning more, and especially when people started investigating the school [Montverde] more, people, especially R.J. Barrett’s father [former St. John’s star Rowan Barrett], who is heavily involved with Canadian basketball and he’s a very educated guy, I think he looks heavily at the academic and school side of it just as much as he does the basketball side of it. I’m not saying these other schools aren’t good but he sees us as a school where you could just send your kid there academically.”
On the court, both players are major making headlines in the post-Ben Simmons Era at Montverde.
Shittu was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Hoophall after winning the MVP award in two games.
In a 74-44 rout of Roman Catholic (PA), the sophomore big man tallied 15 points and 4 assists. In an 81-67 win over Sierra Canyon (CA) he went for 25 points and 8 rebounds.
Shittu said he holds scholarship offers from Baylor, Illinois, Kansas State, New Mexico and Oregon, with interest from Kentucky, LSU, Alabama, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Clemson and Florida. Shittu said he had no visits set at the moment, and doesn’t have a particualrly strong relationship with any school.
“He has a nose for the ball,” Boyle said. “He just scraps and he finds balls. He’s the guy that’s always on the end of the two-on-one to finish. He’s pretty good when he gets a rebound of pushing it and getting to the basket….
“He knows how to push it and not run somebody over. He’s not at good as [Michael Kidd-] Gilchrist, Mike used to do that great where Mike wouldn’t be good against [former Rutgers guard] Myles Mack guarding him fullcourt, but Mike if you get an open court, he was pushing it and he would step around you and he wouldn’t charge. But he avoids you and Simi’s got some of that.
“I think Simi’s going to really blow up. His shot is a little better in practice, it’s a little flat still.”
Meantime, Barrett did not have his best games at the Hoophall but he went off for 31 points in a loss to eventual tournament champion Chino Hills (CA) in December at the City of Palms, and also had 18 last month in a nationally televised win over Huntington Prep in which Louisville’s Rick Pitino, LSU’s Johnny Jones and UCF’s Donnie Jones sat courtside.
Barrett has deep basketball roots. Aside from his father, his Godfather is former NBA star Steve Nash, who bought R.J. his first crib, according to USA Today.
Wherever Barrett lands for college, he might not be there for long.
“R.J. Barrett is a kid that could probably be one or two years in college and out,” Boyle told SNY.tv on the 4 Quarters Podcast. “We haven’t gotten anything official, but I would think he could pretty much go where he wanted at this point in this stage of his development.”
Longtime basketball expert Tom Konchalski told me Barrett compares favorably to Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, at this stage of their careers.
“He didn’t play good this weekend I thought,” Boyle said. “Part of it is he’s wearing down a little bit and he’s played a lot of games…He was a little winded and he’s gotta get that next stage of mental toughness. He’s got a chance to be a high, high level player and he’s young.”
Shittu and Barrett have already played together for several years, and they figure to only get better as Montverde pursues its fourth straight Dick’s Sporting Goods National HIgh School Championship later this spring in New York.
“We’ve been playing together since we were like 11, 12, and we know each other’s strengths and weakneesses” Shittu said of Barrett. “So we just try to share the ball as much as we can because we know we’re one of the focal points of the team, the ones that share the ball the most.”
Said Boyle: “I think [Barrett] and Simi are showing flashes but the positiive thing for us is their window for development is so large. I mean, they’re doing really good at the high school level nationally, and they can just get a lot better.”
