Months before every season begins, Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook beats other publications to the punch by announcing its preseason first-team All-Americans. On Wednesday, the magazine announced that a Duke basketball freshman is worthy of being on its list.
The selection of R.J. Barrett, who was honored as the 2018 Naismith High School Boys’ Player of the Year in March and also named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, makes it three years in a row that a Duke basketball player has been on the cover.
Former Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen made the final cut for the magazine’s preseason picks of the five best college basketball players in the country the past two seasons.