Scottie Barnes


Scott Wayne Barnes Jr. is an American college basketball player for the Florida State Seminoles of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was a consensus five-star recruit and one of the best power forwards in the 2020 class. He finished his high school career at Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida.

High school career

As a freshman, Barnes played basketball for Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. He earned All-Area second team and MaxPreps Freshman All-American honors after leading Newman to a 19–8 record and the 5A regional semifinals. After the season, Barnes transferred to NSU University School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was teammates with Vernon Carey Jr., the nation's highest-ranked junior.
As a sophomore, he helped his team to a 36–2 record and its first-ever Class 5A state title. Barnes led University School to a City of Palms Classic championship and was named tournament most valuable player after posting 15 points and eight rebounds in the final versus top-ranked East High School. At GEICO Nationals, he averaged 21.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as University School finished as runners-up. In his junior season, Barnes averaged 13.1 points, seven rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, leading his team to a 27–5 record and a second straight 5A state title.
On August 5, 2019, he announced that he was moving to Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, joining top recruits Cade Cunningham and Day'Ron Sharpe, for his senior season. Many analysts regarded his team as one of the greatest in high school basketball history. Barnes averaged 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, helping Montverde to a 25–0 record with an average margin of victory of 39 points. He received All-American first team honors from MaxPreps and Sports Illustrated. Barnes was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit, but all three games were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Recruiting

A consensus five-star recruit, Barnes is considered the fourth-best player in the 2020 recruiting class by ESPN. He is the most highly-ranked power forward in his class by ESPN and Rivals. On October 14, 2019, Barnes announced his commitment to play college basketball for Florida State over offers from Kentucky, Miami and Oregon, among others.

National team career

Barnes won a gold medal with the United States at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Formosa, Argentina after averaging 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. In a semifinal win over Argentina, he led all scorers with 20 points and six steals while breaking the American under-16 record for free throw percentage by shooting 8-of-8 from the free throw line. At the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Argentina, Barnes averaged 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and captured another gold medal. He averaged 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece, where he won his third gold medal with the United States.