The McDonald’s All-American teams have been revealed. Which Kentucky recruits made it?
The selections for this year’s McDonald’s All-American Games were revealed Thursday afternoon, and Kentucky will once again be represented at the annual all-star showcase.
Two future UK men’s basketball players were selected for the game, and the Wildcats’ women’s team will have an incoming recruit at the event for the first time in five years.
Five-star shooting guards Brandon Boston and Terrence Clarke were locks to make the McDonald’s team, and both made the roster.
Five-star wing player Treasure Hunt, one of Coach Matthew Mitchell’s highest-ranked recruits at Kentucky, will play in the McDonald’s girls’ game.
All three of those players officially signed with UK in the fall.
This year’s McDonald’s Games are set for April 1 in Houston after being played the past two seasons in Atlanta. Both games will be televised nationally on ESPN channels.
Calipari’s run continues
With this year’s selections, John Calipari has now recruited a total of 37 McDonald’s All-Americans to Kentucky out of high school — the most of any coach since he took over the UK job in 2009.
Boston and Clarke are two of the best players in the 2020 class, and it appears that both could end up ranked among the top 10 prospects nationally in that group. When Clarke — a 6-foot-7 player from Boston — committed to UK in September, he became the Wildcats’ first recruit with a top-five national ranking since Skal Labissiere in the 2015 class. Boston — a 6-6 player from Atlanta — has been mentioned as a national player of the year candidate while starring for Sierra Canyon (Calif.) this season.
Future Kentucky point guard Devin Askew is likely to end up on the lists of McDonald’s Game “snubs” after not making this year’s event. Askew announced his reclassification from the 2021 class last fall and is now the No. 20 overall recruit in the 2020 composite rankings from 247Sports. The McDonald’s Game chose a total of 24 players, but Askew plays a position that is stacked with talent this year.
Future UK power forwards Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware also did not make the McDonald’s Game, despite a strong start to their senior seasons. Kentucky’s other signee, four-star wing Cam’Ron Fletcher, is the No. 41 player in the Rivals rankings for 2020 and was not on the list of McDonald’s Game nominees.
UK could still add to its McDonald’s All-American tally for this year. Five-star forward Greg Brown, who was in Lexington for an official visit this month, was also selected for the McDonald’s Game. The 6-9 prospect has narrowed his recruiting choices to Kentucky, Auburn, Memphis, Michigan and Texas, his hometown school. He’s expected to make a college decision this spring.
North Carolina had four future players selected for the game, while Kentucky and Duke (two each) were the only other schools with more than one selection.
UK women represented
Treasure Hunt — a 6-1 wing from Chattanooga, Tenn. — announced her commitment to Kentucky in early November and signed with the Wildcats a couple of weeks later. She’s ranked by the All-Star Girls Report recruiting service as the No. 10 overall prospect in the 2020 class.
Hunt will be the first UK women’s recruit at the McDonald’s Game since Taylor Murray in 2015. Lindsey Corsaro was signed with the Wildcats at the time of the 2016 game, but she later decommitted — amid a rash of transfers from the program — and ended up at UCLA. Current UK guard Chasity Patterson was a McDonald’s selection in 2017, though she started her college career at Texas before transferring to Lexington.
Next season, Hunt will join friend and former AAU teammate Rhyne Howard at Kentucky, which currently has a 15-3 record and a No. 12 national ranking as Mitchell has the Cats back on the right track with a seemingly promising future ahead.
UK also signed two other players in the November period — South Carolina forward Nyah Leveretter and Louisville point guard Erin Toller — and both were on the list of nominees for the McDonald’s Game, though neither made the final roster.
Ryle High School guard Maddie Scherr was the only Kentucky high schooler to make either McDonald’s team. Scherr will play next season at Oregon, which led all women’s programs with five McDonald’s All-Americans this year.
McDonald’s Game rosters
This year’s McDonald’s All-Americans have not yet been split up into teams. That announcement is expected to come sometime next month.
Boys’ roster: Scottie Barnes (Florida State), Brandon Boston (Kentucky), Greg Brown (uncommitted), Nimari Burnett (Texas Tech), Josh Christopher (uncommitted), Terrence Clarke (Kentucky), Sharife Cooper (Auburn), Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State), R.J. Davis (North Carolina), Dawson Garcia (Marquette), Jalen Green (uncommitted), Walker Kessler (North Carolina), Caleb Love (North Carolina), Evan Mobley (Southern Cal), Daishen Nix (UCLA), Jeremy Roach (Duke), Day’Ron Sharpe (North Carolina), Jaden Springer (Tennessee), DJ Steward (Duke), Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga), Bryce Thompson (Kansas), Isaiah Todd (Michigan), Mark Williams (Duke), Ziaire Williams (uncommitted).
Girls’ roster: Cameron Brink (Stanford), Paige Bueckers (UConn), Kamilla Cardoso (Syracuse), Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Olivia Cochran (Louisville), Dalaylah Daniels (California), Lexi Donarski (Iowa State), Angela Dugalic (Oregon), Sasha Goforth (Oregon State), Hannah Gusters (Baylor), Madison Hayes (Mississippi State), Treasure Hunt (Kentucky), Deja Kelly (North Carolina), Mir McLean (UConn), Te-Hina Paopao (Oregon), Sydney Parrish (Oregon), Angel Reese (Maryland), Eniya Russell (South Carolina), Maddie Scherr (Oregon), Madison Scott (Mississippi), Hailey Van Lith (uncommitted), Kylee Watson (Oregon), Madeline Westbeld (Notre Dame), Priscilla Williams (Syracuse).
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 3:24 PM.
