Miami basketball finalist for five-star SF Scottie Barnes of University School

Five-star small forward Scottie Barnes of the University School in Fort Lauderdale named the Miami basketball program as one of eight finalists for where he will attend college.

Scottie Barnes is a high school teammate of the nation’s second-ranked player in the Class of 2019, Vernon Carey Jr. Barnes is a 6’8 210-pound small forward. He is the third-ranked player in the Class of 2020 and the top-ranked small forward and player in Florida. Barnes would be the highest ranked signee in Miami basketball history.

Lonnie Walker who came to Miami in the Class of 2017 is currently the highest ranked signee in Miami basketball history, he was 16th nationally.

Miami will lose forward Anthony Lawrence, center Ebuka Izundu and guard Zach Johnson after this season. The Hurricanes also lose Junior center-forward Dewan Hernandez who has been ineligible this season.

Hernandez chose to enter the NBA Draft instead of accepting a suspension that would cost him 40 percent of the 2019-20 season.

Miami adds four-star guard Isaiah Wong, three-star forward Anthony Walker and guard Kameron McGusty after sitting out this season following his transfer from Oklahoma. The only player on the Miami roster that will be a Senior in 2019-20 is guard Dejan Vasiljevic.

Barnes would be an instant starter if healthy. He is the type of impact player that Lonnie Walker and Bruce Brown were as Freshmen. Barnes would be the first top-five player and first five-star signee in Miami history.

Barnes sent out his eight finalists via Twitter on Wednesday after stating he would name seven finalists for his college destination on January 30. The other seven schools that Barnes named as finalists are some names you would expect and a few others that seem like long shots.

Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon, Cal, Ohio State, Florida State are the schools Miami is competing with to land Barnes. Like the football team, the Hurricanes have a slight advantage of being able to have Barnes be on campus for unofficial visits and to be at as many of his games as possible.

Carey will unquestionably be one and done at Duke. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact the son of former Miami Hurricanes offensive lineman Vernon Carey Senior will have on his high school teammate’s college choice.

Anthony Walker and Wong signed National Letters of Intent in November with the Miami basketball program. They currently constitute the Nation’s 48th ranked recruiting class in 2019. Barnes is the only player high on the Hurricanes among the 16 players they have offered a scholarship to according to 247Sports.Com.

Miami has 24 prospects in the 2020 class per 247. Among those 24 Barnes is also the only player high on the Hurricanes. Jim Larranaga and his staff could use a home run signing.

The Miami basketball program missed on the 2018 signing class out of high school because of their implication in the Adidas bribery case. Recruits were hesitant to sign with Miami.

Larranaga and his staff have used transfers before Manny Diaz took multiple trips into the transfer portal in January. The portal was instituted last fall by the NCAA.