ZARAZOGA, Spain– Canada continues to produce young basketball stars at an impressive rate.

The latest is RJ Barrett, a 6-7 shooting guard from Hamilton, Ont. and prep powerhouse Montverde, Fla. Academy who just turned 16, but spent time earlier in the month, along with 6-9, 17-year old prep school teammate Simi Shittu participating in the senior men’s training camp trying out for a team that is preparing to play in a last chance FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament at Manila in the Philippines.

Barrett is a left handed prodigy who is considered more athletic at this point in his development than Andrew Wiggins, a Canadian who spent a year at Kansas and was the first pick in the 2014 NBA draft and the 2015 Rookie of the Year with the Minnesota T-Wolves. He is also ranked as one of the two best ninth graders playing in the United States, along with 6-9 man child Charles Bassey of San Antonio.

Given the fact Canada’s senior men’s national team is missing several of the 12 players currently playing in the NBA like Wiggins, center Kelly Olynyk of Boston and guard Nik Stauskas of Philadelphia, and precocious 19-year old guard Jamal Murray of Kentucky– who was a star on his country’s 2015 Pan Am Games silver medalists and 2016 NBA lottery pick, Barrett didn’t know where he would be spending this summer. “I didn’t know if I was going to play with this U 17 team or not,” Barrett said. “I was obviously excited about the senior team, if that happens you can’t turn that down. It’s a great opportunity. But I also wanted to be with my guys.”

Barrett’s friends are the members of last summer’s U 16 team that advanced to the gold medal game of the Tournament of the Americas competition in Argentina and gave the United States a major scare, taking a 23-3 lead at the start of the game before fading late during a 77-60 loss. Canada settled for the country’s first silver medal in the tournament.

Barrett enjoyed his experience with the senior team. “I learned how to play at a difference pace and the strength of all the other guys and to play smarter. A lot of things,” he said. His one friendly game came against Croatia when he scored 5 points. “I had a step back three and all the guys were encouraging me because I hadn’t been playing particularly well. It was fun. Playing with those guys showed me a whole different way of playing the game and I hope to bring that here.”’

When Barrett arrived in Zaragoza to join his teammates on the powerful FIBA U 17 team that is playing in the World Championships here, his teammates were ecstatic. “Everybody was jumping on me,” he said. “It was really fun to reunite with them.”

It hasn’t taken long for Barrett to make a dent in with this talented team– which could be the one team to challenge the United States in this tournament. Barrett is averaging 16 points for this 4-0 team, coached by David Deaveiro from McGill University, will play Turkey Thursday in a 12:45 quarterfinal game. The U.S. and Canada are in opposite sides of the bracket so it is conceivable many of the same players who played in the gold medal game in Argentina could meet again in the finals.

“This team is even deeper than last year,” said Barrett, who had 14 points and 6 rebounds Tuesday as Canada defeated the Dominican Republic, 77-52, in the round of 16. ‘”I feel we’re good enough and have enough talent we can reach the finals. We’re better defensively and we can sub out 5 for 5. I think we’re good to go.”

Barrett grew up with Canadian basketball. His father Rowan, a former St. John’s star, played on Canada’s last Olympic team in 2000, along with Hall of Fame guard and NBA MVP Steve Nash. That team finished seventh, but Barrett and Nash became close friends and when RJ was born shortly before the games, Barrett asked Nash to be his god father. RJ began playing at age four. “My dad was playing in France and that’s where I learned how to play,” Barrett said.

Barrett has become part of a new wave of basketball talent that eventually should make his country an Olympic medal contender This U 17 has 10 players back from the U 16 team and has at least eight players– including Barrett, Shittu, small forward Ignas Brazdeikis, point guard Andrew Nembhard, power forward Danilo Djiuricic and small forward Emmanuel Akot– who should be prime Division I recruiting targets. Canada is ranked No. 3 in the world in this age group category and this is the most accomplished group this country has sent into international competition. “I’d say a good 80 percent of these players have been playing together for three years,” Deaveiro said.

Canada basketball is growing up. Many of the players in the u 16, u 17 and U 18 teams have come through the junior skills academy for seventh and eighth grade prospects that is held in Toronto. Most have played high level summer travel team basketball against U.S. talent and some have attended high profile U.S. prep schools to maximize their skills so they have no fear of playing against blue chip American talent. “We’ve made great strides in the past year. Our youth teams are ranked third in the world and I think our goal have been to get back here and get another shot at the United States,” Deaveiro said “I think that’s been on our minds.”

This particular team offers renewed hope to a country desperate to show it is a world power with it national senior men’s team.
Canada should have already be qualified for Rio. The team, which got 34 points and 13 rebounds out of the 6-10 Olynyk from the Boston Celtics, had a seven point lead over Venezuela with three minutes to play in the semi-finals of the FiBA Americas Championship, but then went flat against Venezuela’s press and lost, 79-78, on a controversial foul call just before the buzzer. A win would have given them an automatic bid.
There was no excuses for this one. Canada had all of its key players, including Wiggins, in Mexico. The young team Canada will send to Manila will feature forward Tristan Thompson from the world championship Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA guard Cory Joseph of Toronto, Tyler Ennis of Milwaukee, forward Joel Anthony of Detroit and power forward/ former Cavaliers’ No. 1 draft pick Anthony Bennett.

Eventually, Barrett will be the face of this country’s national team. “We look up to those guys,” Barrett said. “They paved the way for us to get here.”