![[design element]](/images/bullet-white.gif){kind=small} |
Subscribe Now!! |
|
Get Us In Print |
|
Need Help? |
|
Contact Us |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[design element]](/images/spacer.gif){kind=small} |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[design element]](/images/bullet.gif){kind=small}
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[design element]](/images/bullet-right.gif){kind=small}
OUR ADVICE: GO FOR TWENTY!
By Rob Harrington
robharrington@prepstars.com
March 26, 2003
While most of the nation is focused on the upcoming NCAA regionals, high school recruitniks will direct their attention Wednesday night to the annual McDonald's All-American game, which tips off tonight in Cleveland and will be televised by ESPN.
Over 20 of the nation's best seniors will battle for bragging rights, as most will be making their national television debuts. From a mainstream sports perspective, most casual observers will take a look at LeBron James, the star from Akron who clearly will be the star of the show in Cleveland.
In addition to James, however, numerous other top recruits will get a chance to shine and maybe, just maybe, upstage James and take home an MVP award. But don't hold your breath.
Regardless of how the James-versus-the-field scenario plays out, we'll be keeping an eye on the leading scorers. Over the years, the McDonald's game has proven to be a mediocre predictor of college success, but a pretty accurate gauge for NBA stardom, provided a player does one thing -- he scores at least 20 points.
Plenty of terrific prospects failed to make an impression in the McDonald's game, but for whatever reason, players who have scored over 20 points have collectively enjoyed great success at the professional level.
Since the game debuted in 1978, 44 players have achieved the magical number. Excluding the six players who are currently playing college hoops, 28 of the 38 twenty-point scorers (74 percent) have gone on to play at least one full season in the NBA, and in many cases the players achieved stardom at the next level.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, numerous big-timers at the college and NBA levels embarrassed themselves by posting paltry stats in the McDonald's game, and many more who aren't listed below eked out just passable numbers but were nearly as uninspiring.
In short, if your favorite recruit scores 20 points in tonight's contest, then it's something worth getting (cautiously) excited about. And if he struggles to establish himself, then it's probably wise to give him the benefit of the doubt.
MCDONALD'S 20-POINT SCORERS
|
Name |
Scoring Total |
Year |
College Destination |
|
Darryl Mitchell |
20 points |
1978 |
Minnesota |
|
Darren Daye |
22 points |
1979 |
UCLA/NBA |
|
Russell Cross |
20 points |
1980 |
Purdue/NBA |
|
Glenn "Doc" Rivers |
20 points |
1980 |
Marquette/NBA |
|
Adrian Branch |
24 points |
1981 |
Maryland/NBA |
|
Michael Jordan |
30 points |
1981 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Dell Curry |
20 points |
1982 |
Virginia Tech/NBA |
|
Kenny Walker |
20 points |
1982 |
Kentucky/NBA |
|
Winston Bennett |
21 points |
1983 |
Kentucky/NBA |
|
James Blackmon |
21 points |
1983 |
Kentucky |
|
Tom Sheehey |
22 points |
1983 |
Virginia |
|
John Williams |
27 points |
1984 |
LSU/NBA |
|
Walker Lambiotte |
24 points |
1985 |
N.C. State/Northwestern |
|
J.R. Reid |
23 points |
1986 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Terry Mills |
20 points |
1986 |
Michigan/NBA |
|
Brian Shorter |
24 points |
1987 |
Pittsburgh |
|
Khalid Reeves |
22 points |
1990 |
Arizona/NBA |
|
Clifford Rozier |
22 points |
1990 |
North Carolina/Louisville/NBA |
|
James Forrest |
22 points |
1991 |
Georgia Tech |
|
Donald Williams |
20 points |
1991 |
North Carolina |
|
Glenn Robinson |
20 points |
1991 |
Purdue/NBA |
|
Chris Webber |
28 points |
1991 |
Michigan/NBA |
|
Jerry Stackhouse |
27 points |
1993 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Felipe Lopez |
24 points |
1994 |
St. John's/NBA |
|
Antoine Walker |
20 points |
1994 |
Kentucky/NBA |
|
Jerod Ward |
25 points |
1994 |
Michigan |
|
Paul Pierce |
28 points |
1995 |
Kansas/NBA |
|
Winfred Walton |
21 points |
1996 |
Fresno State |
|
Stephen Jackson |
21 points |
1996 |
Butler (KS) CC/NBA |
|
Jason Capel |
22 points |
1998 |
North Carolina |
|
Carlos Boozer |
22 points |
1999 |
Duke/NBA |
|
Jonathan Bender |
31 points |
1999 |
NBA |
|
Casey Jacobson |
22 points |
1999 |
Stanford/NBA |
|
Jason Williams |
20 points |
1999 |
Duke/NBA |
|
Zach Randolph |
23 points |
2000 |
Michigan State/NBA |
|
DeShawn Stevenson |
25 points |
2000 |
NBA |
|
Andre Brown |
20 points |
2000 |
DePaul |
|
Darius Rice |
24 points |
2000 |
Miami |
|
Eddy Curry |
28 points |
2001 |
NBA |
|
Kelvin Torbert |
21 points |
2001 |
Michigan State |
|
David Lee |
21 points |
2001 |
Florida |
|
Dajuan Wagner |
25 points |
2001 |
Memphis/NBA |
|
J.J. Redick |
26 points |
2002 |
Duke |
|
Rashad McCants |
22 points |
2002 |
North Carolina |
NOTABLE SLOW STARTERS
|
Byron Scott |
2 points (0-7 FG) |
1979 |
Arizona State/NBA |
|
Steve Stipanovich |
7 points (1-7 FG) |
1979 |
Missouri/NBA |
|
Ralph Sampson |
4 points (2-7 FG) |
1979 |
Virginia/NBA |
|
Sidney Green |
4 points (1-4 FG) |
1979 |
UNLV/NBA |
|
James Worthy |
2 points (1-6 FG) |
1979 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Chris Mullin |
2 points (1-8 FG) |
1981 |
St. John's/NBA |
|
Brad Daugherty |
6 points (3-7 FG) |
1982 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Johnny Dawkins |
3 points (1-9 FG) |
1982 |
Duke/NBA |
|
Reggie Williams |
6 points (3-12 FG) |
1983 |
Georgetown/NBA |
|
Danny Manning |
9 points (4-9 FG) |
1984 |
Kansas/NBA |
|
Pervis Ellison |
9 points (4-6 FG) |
1985 |
Louisville/NBA |
|
Sean Elliott |
0 points (0-0 FG) |
1985 |
Arizona/NBA |
|
Christian Laettner |
2 points (0-2 FG) |
1988 |
Duke/NBA |
|
Laphonso Ellis |
2 points (0-4 FG) |
1988 |
Notre Dame/NBA |
|
Rasheed Wallace |
9 points (4-7 FG) |
1993 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Antawn Jamison |
7 points (3-6 FG) |
1995 |
North Carolina/NBA |
|
Shane Battier |
6 points (2-8 FG) |
1997 |
Duke/NBA |
|
Lamar Odom |
9 points (4-9 FG) |
1997 |
Rhode Island/NBA |
|
Frank Williams |
5 points (2-6 FG) |
1998 |
Illinois/NBA |
|
Mike Miller |
4 points (2-6 FG) |
1998 |
Florida/NBA |
Note: Stats compiled from the McDonald's All-American media guide
2003 MCDONALD’S ALL-AMERICANS
EAST
|
Name |
Town/State/School |
College |
|
Andrew Lavender |
Columbus (OH) Brookhaven |
Oklahoma |
|
Chris Paul |
Clemmons (NC) West Forsyth |
Wake Forest |
|
Mustafa Shakur |
Wynnewood (PA) Friends Central |
Arizona |
|
Mike Jones |
Braintree (MA) Thayer |
Maryland |
|
Brandon Bass |
Baton Rouge (LA) Capitol |
LSU |
|
LeBron James |
Akron (OH) St. Vincent-St. Mary |
NBA |
|
Luol Deng * |
Blairstown (NJ) Blair |
Duke |
|
Ivan Harris |
Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill |
Ohio State |
|
Travis Outlaw |
Starkville (MS) High |
Mississippi State |
|
Charlie Villanueva |
Blairstown (NJ) Blair |
Illinois |
|
Jackie Butler |
McComb (MS) High |
Mississippi State |
|
James Lang |
Birmingham (AL) Central Park |
undecided |
WEST
|
Aaron Brooks |
Seattle (WA) Franklin |
Oregon |
|
Brandon Cotton |
Detroit (MI) DePorres |
Michigan State |
|
Shannon Brown |
Maywood (IL) Proviso East |
Michigan State |
|
Olu Famutimi * |
Flint (MI) Northwestern |
Arkansas |
|
J.R. Giddens |
Oklahoma City (OK) Marshall |
Kansas |
|
Von Wafer |
Cleveland (TX) Heritage Christian |
Florida State |
|
Leon Powe |
Oakland (CA) Tech |
California |
|
Kris Humphries |
Minnetonka (MN) Hopkins |
Duke |
|
Ndudi Ebi |
Houston (TX) Westbury Christian |
Arizona |
|
Brian Butch |
Appleton (WI) West |
Wisconsin |
|
David Padgett * |
Reno (NV) High |
Kansas |
|
Kendrick Perkins |
Beaumont (TX) Ozen |
Memphis |
* Injured; will not play
Recruiting News | Exclusive Features | Rankings & Lists | Program Profiles | Event Coverage | Archives | Home
© 2008 Sports Letter, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Read Terms Of Use under which this service
is provided to you.
Contact us.