Your George Mason Patriots have brought in 2026 6’8 wing/forward Bryton Barrett. Barrett attends DC’s Archbishop Carroll, plays for DC Premier and is from Elkridge, Maryland.
The 6’8 wing forward hybrid had an offer from Howard, and then got offers from Mason and Saint Joseph’s in the last couple of days.
Bryton Barrett By The Numbers
Archbishop Carroll (High School)
In his senior year of high school in a tough WCAC, Bryton averaged 9.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, .9 steals, and .9 blocks in 18.6 minutes per game on 42% shooting from the field, 47% from two, and 33% from three.
A hidden nugget in there is that the future Patriot hit 85% of his 120 free throws, which is very impressive. The indicators I use for shooting potential are generally current three-point percentage (33%), free-throw percentage (85%), three-point volume (88 in 651 minutes), and mid-range percentage (N/A). 33% from a high schooler isn’t bad, and when you combine that with a great 85% from the line, that should give you confidence in him being a plus shooter at some point during his college career.
120 free throws compared to 257 field goal attempts is pretty good, as that is a free throw rate of 46.7. It is a different level, but that is a similar free throw rate to Riley Allenspach.
DC Premier (AAU/Under Armour Association)
The school numbers are fine, but I think his most recent AAU circuit play for DC Premier got him looks. During the very recent UAA Session II, on a 3-1 team, he averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game.
Barrett did this while making the All-Defense team and All-Breakout team. A late riser who plays defense is exactly who you want to pick up at this time of year.
Bryton Barrett Scouting Report (DC Premier vs Illinois Wolves)
To get a grasp on the level of competition, his opponent has Myles Montgomery and Deven Maeshall, two 2027 PGs with offers from Eastern Illinois.
More importantly, they also have a 6’8 2027 forward with offers from Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, Harvard, Toledo, and Holy Cross in Edvardas Stasys, a 6’6 2027 wing in Brendan Petty with an offer from Western Illinois, and another 6’6 2027 wing in Oliver Gray with offers from Eastern Illinois and Cleveland State.
Barrett took the opening tip for his team. He also looks like he has a decently plus wingspan. Came out of the game for the first time midway through the second quarter.
I was a bit skeptical on him actually being 6’8, but Stasys is listed at 6’7, and Barrett is 1-2 inches taller, and would guess he is about an average A10 athlete, with a little more speed with the ball when scaled for size, along with being pretty good with start-stop.
Offense
With the ball in his hands, Barrett has really sharp shin angles, which gives him more burst. His handle isn’t advanced enough to consistently keep up with it, but the flashes are there. He can create some perimeter separation with the dribble, but doesn’t take those shots early in the possession, which is a positive.
The dribble can get ahead or left behind him. Consistency will unlock everything there.
The good drives look so so good. The 6’8 wing can get past his man and get a good angle for a shot. His defender, the guy with the MAC and Ivy/Patriot League offers, had no chance of staying in front of him on the perimeter when the dribble worked.
I saw a nice forced closeout which turned into a blowby and maneuver around the help.
The passing is also pretty good for his size. Bryton had an awesome nearly coast-to-coast take that ended up in a teammate getting a wide open three. The part that really impressed me was how early the pass got to him. He didn’t pass the ball because he couldn’t shoot anymore, he passed because his teammate was open.
His post entry passes are pretty accurate.
The off-ball stuff is pretty impressive. There isn’t a lot of cutting, but he understands spacing and will draw his defender out when his teammate drives. Barrett had a very high feel play where he drifted out of the range of a help defender and got open for a three. It missed but it was a subtle play that got his team an open three.
His finishing at the rim isn’t perfect, but is still good. Not alarm bell worthy.
The 6’8 wing will post up if a guard is switched onto him. I saw it happen and he moved a guy from the corner to the paint in two dribbles, and drew a foul call.
Lastly, in the fast break, he made a pass that was so good I had to question whether it was purposeful or not.
Defense
Barrett guards guys very close on the perimeter. He’s able to close out and not give up free drives. He switched onto a wing with D1 offers, poked the ball loose, got a bit out of position going for the loose ball, and then blocked his shot at the rim.
Bryton can get beat by bigger players when they drive, as that is what Stasys was doing to him. He can also get sealed off pretty easily, especially on inbound plays. Most negatives I saw on defense were him struggling with strength, which points to him being more of a big 3 than a 4 early on. The young wing was fouling a little more than you would like, but it was more size-based than speed.
The 6’8 wing uses his length pretty well, being able to contest at the rim at a competent level, while also using it to clog passing lanes. He got his hands on a lot of passes and passing-by dribblers. When DC Premier ran a 2-3 zone, Barrett was rangy enough to shut down his half of the high side.
When Bryton is the low-side defender, his length and vertical athleticism allow him to defend cross-court passes very well. He could get caught ball-watching but it wasn’t a trend.
In the fast break, Barrett puts himself in good position to get chasedown blocks.
The rebounding is probably neutral, but keep in mind that I was watching him go against forwards instead of wings. Scaled down to the 3, it would probably be slightly plus.
Scouting Conclusion
I view Bryton Barrett as a developmental 3-and-D wing that has some upside as a drive-and-kicker. Dribble-pass-shoot. It would be irresponsible to expect anything major early, but this is the type of player that brings value if he stays.
Where Does He Fit In?
It is going to be incredibly difficult for a non-blue chip (adjusted for A10) freshman to get playing time in this college basketball environment.
At wing, you have Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor, Makhai Valentine, and Malik Presley. At forward, you have Emmett Adair, Elijah Jones, Michael Marcus, Shane Pendergrass, and Ryan-Preston Mendy. Let’s be charitable and take out Valentine (too small to overlap) and Marcus (probably plays a decent bit of 5).
Barrett will have to battle with two guys for wing minutes, and four guys for forward minutes, with both Pendergrass and Mendy being wing/forward hybrids. I would expect that between those two and Barrett, only one of them plays consistent minutes, and Pendergrass is the leader as of now.
I like this pickup, but I would have absolutely loved it when the redshirt still mattered. Guys get 5 years no matter what now.
For a high school pickup after their season year, this is the best you’re going to get. Out of the four late freshman pickups (Stas, Skinn, Mendy, and Barrett), I would put Barrett at the top since the role seems to be there, he just needs opportunity.
A high-end outcome for Bryton Barrett would be something like what Dasear Haskins was for them the past two seasons. I think the shooting has a decent chance to be better, though.
