R.J. Barrett recruiting: Elite wing set to reclass and visit Kentucky Basketball, who is among favorites

All of the talk in recruiting circles is about Marvin Bagley, but R.J. Barrett is making a good case as the best high school prospect, regardless of which class he ends up in.

Barrett, who is currently a Class of 2019 recruit, According to 247 Sports’ Jerry Meyer, is “expected” to reclassify to 2018 and be eligible for college basketball next year. Barrett has not officially announced which class he will be apart of yet.

This has been the expectation for awhile now. Barrett is too good to stay in the Class of 2019 if he’s able to reclassify and move up a year. All indications are Barrett has the necessary credits to move up a year and be eligible for the 2019 NBA Draft, where he could be the No. 1 overall pick.

That’s a draft that could have Zion Williamson, Marvin Bagley, Cameron Reddish and Bol Bol. That makes for a monstrous 2018 class that could see UK land two or more of the above mentioned names. Barrett, Reddish and Zion are all versatile enough to play with each other, so yes, you can at least dream of a UK team that has those three on it.

That probably won’t happen, but if anyone can do it, it’s John Calipari. The UK coach has great interest in Barrett, who demolished his U19 World Cup team earlier this month, en route to leading Canada to a gold medal.

UK is one of four favorites for Barrett. The others are Duke, Michigan and Oregon. Jerry Meyer says that Arizona, Texas and Kansas are right behind those top contenders. It remains to be seen who is Barrett’s top leader as of now, if he even has one, but seeing UK mentioned among his favorites is great news nonetheless.

You can read the rest of Meyer’s story here, which includes info about Barrett’s dominance in the World Cup, and more on his Crystal Ball predictions thus far.

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