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MCDONALD'S FINALISTS
By PrepStars.com staff
readermail@prepstars.com
February 19, 2003
The 100 finalists for the McDonald’s All-American Boys Basketball Game, which will be played on March 26 in Cleveland, were announced on Tuesday. The final 24 players that will participate in the game will be announced on Thursday, Feb. 27, during ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Surprises? Well, all the players we expect have a legitimate chance to make the team are on the list of finalists, so there's nothing unusual about that.
The highest-ranked player excluded from the list was Jarvelle Scott, a 6-8 BF at Oak Hill, who earned a No. 50 ranking nationally based on his summer play. However, Scott has suffered through a disappointing season at Oak Hill, which no doubt was the primary factor in his exclusion from the list.
A player included among the finalists who isn't ranked anywhere in the top 200 is West Virginia-bound PG Tyler Relph. But here the voting committee did its job well; Relph has spearheaded the efforts of Rochester (NY) McQuaid Jesuit, a top-five team that has been the nation's biggest surprise this season.
On the other hand, a major oversight was the inclusion of FL (via Puerto Rico) guard Guillermo Diaz. Diaz does have the talent -- he impressed everyone at the prestigious Slam Dunk to the Beach in December -- but he was ruled ineligible in January and his team, Miami Christian, was restricted from postseason play by the state athletic association.
Another head-scratcher is how Gary Ervin made the list, but players such as Alex Johnson and Josh Boone did not.
McDonald's rule is that fifth-year players are eligible for the game, as long as they do not repeat their senior year. In others words, a player is eligible for the game just once in his career.
With regard to Ervin, the talented point guard was listed as a senior throughout last season. PrepStars.com ranked him No. 191 in the Class of 2002 last spring. And his situation is identical to that of the excluded Johnson and Boone, who also chose to spend a fifth-year in prep school.
Fortunately for the McDonald's committee, it's highly unlikely that Ervin would be voted onto the team, which should head off any serious controversy.
Of the players who have a legitimate gripe about not making the list, one strong candidate is 6-2 WG/PG Vincent Banks from South Atlanta (GA) High. Banks is having a fantastic season and has improved his stock heading into the spring.
Quinton "Pooh" Day, a 6-0 PG from Kansas City (MO) Paseo who pledged to Southern Cal this winter, is another player who has to feel slighted. You wouldn't expect the No. 68 player to necessarily make the team, but it is surprising that he didn't at least make the list of finalists.
Here's the complete list:
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Mohamed Abukar 6'9 200 PF Rancho Bernardo Poway CA |
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Akini Adkins 6'8 190 PF Leon Tallahassee FL |
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Shagari Alleyne 7'3 255 C Rice Manhattan NY |
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Ryan Appleby 6'3 150 PG Stanwood Stanwood WA |
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Trevor Ariza 6'8 200 PF Westchester Los Angeles CA |
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Renaldo Balkman 6'6 195 SF Pendleton Bradenton FL |
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Sean Banks 6'7 190 SF Bergen Catholic Oradell NJ |
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Brandon Bass 6'7 225 PF/SF Capitol Baton Rouge LA |
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Grant Billmeier 6'10 235 C St. Patrick Elizabeth NJ |
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Art Bowers 6'2 190 SG St. Benedict's Newark NJ |
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Will Bowers 7'0 250 C Archbishop Spalding Severn MD |
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Ronnie Brewer 6'5 185 SG Fayetteville Fayetteville AR |
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Dwight Brewington 6'4 180 SG/PG Worcester Worcester MA |
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Aaron Brooks 5'10 155 PG Franklin Seattle WA |
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Gerald Brown 6'3 185 SG/PG Hargrave Military Chatham VA |
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Shannon Brown 6'3 185 SG Proviso East Maywood IL |
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Brian Butch 7'1 225 C Appleton West Appleton WI |
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Jackie Butler 6'9 260 C McComb McComb MS |
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Karron Clarke 6'6 180 SF Winchendon Winchendon MA |
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Brandon Cotton 5'11 165 SG/PG DePorres Detroit MI |
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Jermareo Davidson 6'10 200 PF Wheeler Marrietta GA |
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Luol Deng 6'7 215 SF Blair Blairstown NJ |
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Guillermo Diaz 6'1 180 PG Miami Christian Miami FL |
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Ndudi Ebi 6'9 195 PF Westbury Christian Houston TX |
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Gary Ervin 5'11 175 SG Notre Dame Prep Fitchburg MA |
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Patrick Ewing Jr., 6'8 205 PF Nat. Christian Ft. Washington MD |
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Olu Famutimi 6'5 195 SF/SG Northwestern Flint MI |
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Hassan Fofana 6'9 265 C Hargrave Military Chatham VA |
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Gary Forbes 6'5 185 SF Banneker Brooklyn NY |
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Brandon Foust 6'6 190 SF Brookhaven Columbus OH |
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Thomas Gardner 6'5 180 SG Jefferson Portland OR |
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Corey Gibbs 6'7 225 PF Redan Stone Mountain GA |
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JR Giddens 6'5 185 SF Marshall Oklahoma City OK |
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Wesley Green 6'9 275 C Eustis Eustis FL |
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Dion Harris 6'4 175 SG Redford Detroit MI |
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Ivan Harris 6'8 215 PF Oak Hill Mouth of Wilson VA |
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Ken Harris 6'10 350 C Bishop Noll Hammond IN |
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Kris Humphries 6'8 210 PF Hopkins Minnetonka MN |
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Ekene Ibekwe 6'8 215 PF Carson Carson CA |
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Jeremy Ingram 6'3 185 2G Kinston Kinston NC |
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Omari Israel 6'7 215 PF Good Counsel Wheaton MD |
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Martin Iti 6'10 235 C Mt. Zion Durham NC |
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LeBron James 6'8 235 SF St. Vincent-St. Mary Akron OH |
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Brandon Jenkins 6'3 170 PG/SG Southeastern Detroit MI |
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Michael Jones 6'4 185 SG Thayer Braintree MA |
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Linas Kleiza 6'8 250 PF Montrose Christian Rockvile MD |
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Regis Koundjia 6'6 180 SF Laurinburg Laurinburg NC |
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James Lang 6'10 305 C Central Park Birmingham AL |
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Andrew Lavender 5'7 150 PG Brookhaven Columbus OH |
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Longar Longar 6'9 205 C Marshall Rochester MN |
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Cartier Martin 6'7 195 SF Nimitz Houston TX |
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Dameon Mason 6'4 180 SG West Senior Aurora IL |
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Richard McBride 6'3 205 SG Lanphier Springfield IL |
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Louis McCroskey 6'4 180 2G St. Raymond Bronx NY |
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Lawrence McKenzie 6'2 165 PG Henry Senior Minneapolis MN |
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Daon Merritt 5'9 180 PG St. Raymond Bronx NY |
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Paul Millsap 6'8 205 PF Grambling Grambling LA |
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Taurean Minor 5'10 180 SG/PG B.T. Washington Houston TX |
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Tim Morris 6'3 180 SG/PG Whitefield Mableton GA |
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Michael Nardi 6'1 155 PG St. Patrick Elizabeth NJ |
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Drew Naymick 6'10 235 C North Muskegon North Muskegon MI |
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Demetris Nichols 6'7 205 SF St. Andrew's Barrington RI |
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Travis Outlaw 6'8 195 SF Starkville Starkville MS |
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David Padgett 6'11 210 C Reno Reno NV |
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Chris Paul 5'11 160 PG West Forsyth Clemmons NC |
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Kendrick Perkins 6'10 265 C Ozen Beaumont TX |
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Bobby Perry 6'7 215 SF Hillside Durham NC |
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Brent Petway 6'8 195 PF Griffin Griffin GA |
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Sean Phaler 6'9 165 WF Villa Park Villa Park CA |
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Leon Powe 6'7 215 PF Oakland Tech Oakland CA |
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Brian Randle 6'7 205 SF/PF Notre Dame Peoria IL |
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Tyler Relph 6'0 165 PG McQuaid Jesuit Rochester NY |
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J.R. Reynolds 6'2 180 SG Oak Hill Mouth of Wilson VA |
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Maureece Rice 6'0 180 SG/PG Strawberry Mansion Philly PA |
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Chris Richard 6'8 220 PF Kathleen Lakeland FL |
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Terrence Roberts 6'8 210 PF St. Anthony Jersey City NJ |
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Mustafa Shakur 6'3 170 PG Friends’ Central Wynnewood PA |
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Will Sheridan 6'8 210 PF Sanford Hockessin DE |
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Courtney Sims 6'10 225 C Noble & Greenough Roslindale MA |
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Lodrick Stewart 6'3 180 SF Rainier Beach Seattle WA |
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Rodrick Stewart 6'3 180 SG/SF Rainier Beach Seattle WA |
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DJ Strawberry 6'3 175 SG Mater Dei Santa Ana CA |
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Chris Taft 6'9 220 C Xaverian Brooklyn NY |
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Reyshawn Terry 6'7 210 SF Reynolds Winston-Salem NC |
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Jimmy Tobias 6'4 185 SG Dillard Ft. Lauderdale FL |
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Darian Townes 6'9 215 C Archbishop Carroll Washington DC |
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Anthony Tucker 6'5 220 PF/SF Enloe Raleigh NC |
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Ayinde Ubaka 6'2 180 PG Oakland Oakland CA |
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Charlie Villanueva 6'9 215 SF Blair Blairstown NJ |
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Lorenzo Wade 6'5 200 SG Cheyenne Las Vegas NV |
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Vakeaton Wafer 6'5 210 SF Heritage Christian Cleveland TX |
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Brandon Wallace 6'8 180 SF Silver Bluff Aiken SC |
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Wesley Washington 6'4 170 2G Mater Dei Santa Ana CA |
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Walter Waters 6'9 250 C Southeastern Detroit MI |
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Darryl Watkins 6'10 230 C Paterson Catholic Paterson NJ |
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Omar Wilkes 6'3 170 SG/PG Loyola Los Angeles CA |
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Marcus Williams 6'2 175 PG Oak Hill Mouth of Wilson VA |
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Dez Willingham 5'11 165 PG DeSoto DeSoto TX |
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Major Wingate 6'9 245 C/PF North Gwinnett Suwanee GA |
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Keith Wooden 6'9 210 PF Free State Lawrence KS |
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