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McDonald's game misses injured centers
We were present for the nation's most prestigious postseason high-school all-star game, the 24th annual McDonald's All-American Game, which was played March 28, at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. You may be aware that the prep Class of 2001 features one of the deepest and most talented crops of big men in the history of high school basketball; unfortunately, four of the very best had injuries and were unable (or unwilling?) to participate in the McDonald's Game. It would have been great to have watched 6-foot-11, 290-pound MVP Eddy Curry (28 points, eight rebounds and four blocks for the victorious West team), a DePaul signee from South Holland (Ill.) Thornwood but a likely entrant into this year's NBA Draft, slug it out around the basket with 7-0, 310-pound Senegalese Sagana Diop of top-ranked Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. Or 6-9, 250-pound Ousmane Cisse, a native of Mali attending Montgomery (Ala.) St. Jude. Diop, however, was genuinely unable to play due to a stress fracture of the foot, while Cisse (who hasn't played in a game since Jan. 12 because of knee and ankle sprains) powered home impressive slam dunks in pregame warmups but never took off his sweatsuit during the actual game. The West also was missing a pair of big men. Seven-foot-1, 230-pound Tyson Chandler of Compton (Calif.) Dominguez reportedly had a severe ankle sprain that kept him out of the state semifinals and finals, while 6-8, 245-pound Kansas signee Wayne Simien of Leavenworth (Kan.) High re-dislocated a shoulder in team practices and had his arm in a sling at game time. Note that Chandler has already announced that he's entering the 2001 NBA Draft, and widespread rumors have suggested he's concerned that a subpar performance will hurt his stock and thus will play in no post-season all-star games. By now, you probably have seen ample stories on the McDonald's Game, and you may have watched it on television, so we're not going to describe what happened as the West came from as many as 17 points behind to defeat the East by a 131-125 count. Instead, let's focus upon an analysis of who played best (and worst), and why. Along with extra-powerful and skilled Curry (who really could become "the next Shaquille O'Neal " down the road), the premier performances for the West were by 6-9 Florida power forward recruit David Lee of St. Louis Chaminade, 5-11 Texas point guard signee Terrance "T.J." Ford of unbeaten Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge, and 6-4 Michigan State wing guard recruit Kelvin Torbert of Flint (Mich.) Northwestern. Even though southpaw Lee (21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, 9-13 FGs) shot free throws poorly (3-9) and needs to work on his perimeter jump shot in order to reach his full potential, he has explosive quickness, speed and leaping ability. In fact, he was the surprise winner of the Slam Jam contest by one point over favorite James White, a skywalking 6-7 small forward from Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy who will join Lee this fall at Florida. Ford (11 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals) stood out for his superb quickness, slick ball-handling, aggressive defense and admirable hustle. In the final minute, with the game won, he flew head first out of bounds in an attempt to save a loose ball; earlier, he doled out an assist while sitting on the floor! If he improves his perimeter shot (he did hit a 3-pointer in the game), he should be a tremendous floor leader for the Longhorns. Husky Torbert, a spectacular leaper/dunker who hangs in the air interminably on smooth mid-range jump shots and handles the ball fine for a wing guard, appears to weigh more than his listed 200 pounds, but he can carry it. He wound up with 21 points and seven rebounds. Look for him to start (and excel) alongside Marcus Taylor in the backcourt next season for the Spartans. On the East team, which raced to a 75-60 halftime lead but faded afterwards, the top performances were by 6-2 combo guard and Memphis recruit Dajuan Wagner of Camden (N.J.) High, 6-11 future Florida (or the NBA?) power forward/center Kwame Brown of Brunswick (Ga.) Glynn Academy, the above-mentioned James White, and (except for his flat and off-target 3-point shot) 6-5 N.C. State-bound wing guard/small forward/point guard Julius Hodge of Bronx (N.Y.) St. Raymond's. Wagner (25 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, 4-9 3-pointers) can be a gunner, and he's shorter than the listed 6-3, but he's a tremendous athlete who takes full advantage of his muscular 205-pound frame. Dajuan is a scoring machine (42.5 ppg. as a senior!) who can knock in sweet arching 3s or slash quite effectively to the hoop. When he works hard on defense, he can shine at that end of the court, too. Brown (17 points, seven boards, five blocked shots, three assists and a steal) is another tremendous run/jump athlete who carries his 240 pounds extremely well and handles the ball better than any player his size since Danny Manning. In the McDonald's Game, he forced up some ill-advised shots (he was 7-18 from the field), but his jump shot has been upgraded considerably during the past year, and he's working to develop better post moves. Note that Brown did a much better job of defending Curry than did the East's David Harrison (7-0, 240), an unsigned Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy product who's a whole lot more promising prospect than he demonstrated. Harrison (zero points, five rebounds and two blocked shots) is expected to announce within the next week or so for either North Carolina (the team to beat now?), Colorado, Vanderbilt or conceivably Louisville, if Rick Pitino is able to get in touch with him soon enough. White, who runs the court swiftly and has steadied his once erratic 3-point stroke, totaled 19 points (9-13 FGs) and four rebounds. If Brown really does skip this year's NBA Draft and enroll in the fall at Florida, he'll combine with Lee and White to give the Gators one of the most talented freshmen frontcourts in the history of collegiate basketball! Hodge is a versatile, wiry athlete who usually does everything well, including shooting 3-pointers. In the first round of the 3-point contest, he drilled 17 of his 25 shots (!), but in the game he managed to rattle in just one from behind the arc in seven tries, with two airballs. Still, he did a lot of good things en route to 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. We predict he will be the Wolfpack's best player by the end of his freshman season. Among those for the West who played reasonably well albeit unspectacularly in the McDonald's Game were big-time 6-4 wing guard and Duke signee Daniel Ewing (10 points -- eight in the fourth quarter -- seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a game-high five turnovers) of Sugar Land (Texas) Willowridge; 6-8 North Carolina small forward/power forward recruit Jawad Williams (11 points, five rebounds and a blocked shot before having his nose broken inadvertently by Wagner midway into the third quarter) of Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward; 6-101/2 Minnesota power forward/center signee Rick Rickert (nine points, six rebounds, four rejects, two assists and two steals) of Duluth (Minn.) East; 6-6 Stanford wing guard/small forward recruit Josh Childress (eight points, five rebounds and a steal) of Lakewood (Cal.) Mayfair; and 6-6 future UCLA combo guard Cedric Bozeman (eight points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist) of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. Each should be a fine collegian, with Williams in particular possessing the physical ability to become a special player. The least impressive performer for the West was 6-1 Kansas point guard signee Aaron Miles of Portland (Ore.) Jefferson. Interestingly, Miles was named winner of McDonald's National Player of the Year and thus received the Morgan Wootten Award, which considers academics and character as well as basketball accomplishments. In case you're wondering, our vote for the Wootten Award (named, of course, for the legendary coach of DeMatha Catholic High in Hyattsville, Md.) went to Dajuan Wagner. Miles (four points, one rebound, one assist, three turnovers and 2-8 FGs in only 13 minutes of action) is quick, unselfish and fundamentally sound, but his overall play was a bit disappointing. For the East, we felt the same way about above-mentioned center David Harrison (though he'll be a good NBA player in a few years) and 6-3 Kentucky wing guard recruit Rashaad Carruth (seven points, two rebounds, three steals, two assists and 3-12 FGs) of Oak Hill Academy. Carruth is reputably a 3-point net-stripper, but he didn't shoot well in the game (1-5 3s) nor in the 3-point contest, where he was eliminated in the first round. His ball-handling and defense (despite the steals) are just adequate. More impressive in this game for the East than Carruth and Harrison -- although not scintillating -- were 6-1 Notre Dame point guard signee Chris Thomas (11 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists) of Indianapolis Pike; 6-1 Louisville point guard recruit Carlos Hurt (12 points, four assists, three rebounds and a steal but 0-5 three-pointers) of Louisville Moore; 6-7 Florida State small forward signee Anthony Richardson (10 points, eight rebounds, one assists and one steal) of Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road; and 6-2 Alabama point guard recruit Maurice Williams (seven points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal) of Jackson (Miss.) Murrah. Southpaw Hurt, in particular, is capable of playing significantly better than he did in the McDonald's Game. Next week we'll provide our postseason national top 33 high school point guards, regardless of class in school. This will be the last of five end-of-season position reviews that rank the premier prospects in the nation. Also this month, there will be brief analyses of the Capital Classic in Washington (D.C.), Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic in Chicago, the Nike Derby Festival Classic in Louisville, and the Coca-Cola All-Star Classic in Las Vegas. Stay tuned.
Regional notesRecent verbal commitments and announced transfers are listed below for each geographic region. Note that none of the latest commitments are from players ranked among the nation's top 100 high school seniors by prepstars.com, although Adam Chiles will rise into the top 150. Also, remember that the spring national signing period begins April 11 and runs through May 15. EAST
MIDWEST
SOUTHWEST
WEST
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