Jeff Zillgitt

USA TODAY Sports

Rowan Barrett is part of the past, present and future of basketball in Canada.

He played for the national team, is Canada Basketball’s executive vice president of the men’s national team and his son Rowan Jr., or R.J., is the top freshman in ESPN’s latest class of 2019 rankings.

“You wonder if that’s a good thing at this age,” the father said.

R.J. plays at The Montverde (Fla). Academy, ranked No. 2 by USA TODAY Sports. Two other Canadians are on that team – Marcus Carr, 39th-ranked point guard in 2017 class and forward Simi Shittu, the seventh-ranked power forward and No. 13 overall in the 2018 class.

The Canadian presence at U.S. prep schools is growing – Andrew Wiggins played at Huntington (W. Va.) Prep; Lindell Wigginton, ranked No. 50 in 2017 class goes to Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) Academy; Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.) has had its share of Canadians.

Knowing how elite youth hockey players are trained in Canada and leave home at a young age to improve, the Barretts gave their son that opportunity.

“While it’s never going to be easy as parent, everyone wants to support their children and their dreams and goals. That’s the position my family has taken,” Rowan Sr. said. “He really wants this. You try your best to help make this a reality.”

AAU basketball programs growing steadily in Canada

R.J. is a 6-6, left-handed shooting guard with leaping ability, increasing range and a competitive fire.

“He’s working pretty hard. He loves the game. He’s accomplishing goals he set out,” Barrett said. “He has to keep developing. We’ll keep him grounded but hopefully he continues to grow.”