McDonald’s Game, other major recruiting events canceled due to coronavirus concerns
Ongoing concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus had a major impact on the basketball recruiting world Thursday, and more changes could be coming in the near future.
The McDonald’s All-American Games and Jordan Brand Classic both announced that year’s all-star games for high school basketball recruits have been canceled.
The Jordan Classic — Nike’s flagship event for top basketball recruits — made the announcement earlier Thursday, the same day that every major college basketball conference canceled their league tournaments, the NCAA Tournament was canceled, and other professional sports leagues announced that their seasons would be suspended. The NBA suspended its season Wednesday night.
Four University of Kentucky men’s basketball signees — Devin Askew, Brandon Boston, Terrence Clarke and Isaiah Jackson — were selected to play in the Jordan Classic boys’ game, while UK women’s signee Treasure Hunt was chosen for the Jordan girls’ game. Those games were set for March 27 in Chicago. The Jordan Brand Classic has been played every year since 2002.
The McDonald’s All-American Game, which has been played since 1977, announced later in the day that its events would also be canceled. Boston, Clarke and Hunt were all selected for this year’s McDonald’s games, which were set to be played in Houston on April 1.
The executive director of the Geico Nationals announced the postponement Thursday of that event, which features the best boys’ and girls’ high school basketball teams in the country in a nationally televised, knockout-style tournament to crown a national champion. The event had been scheduled to be played in New York and was moved to South Carolina earlier this week. Now, it is postponed indefinitely.
There has also been speculation in recruiting circles that the ongoing concerns over the spread of coronavirus could lead to changes in the spring recruiting calendar. Possible alternatives to the current system include playing travel league games without fans, not allowing college coaches to travel to games during the two April evaluation periods, or even canceling the Nike, Adidas and Under Armour events altogether.
The first evaluation period is set to begin April 17 with the Adidas circuit in Louisville, the Nike circuit in Indianapolis, and the Under Armour circuit in Dallas. The following week, the Nike circuit is scheduled for an event in Atlanta, while Adidas would be in Iowa, and Under Armour would play its games in Kansas City.
All of Kentucky’s top recruiting targets would be playing in these events, and UK Coach John Calipari and his three assistants — Kenny Payne, Tony Barbee, and Joel Justus — regularly attend multiple events during each evaluation period.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
