2007 McDonald's All American Game
by awiggo on Mar 28, 2007 12:15 AM CDT
in Basketball
16 comments
We're set to enjoy the college basketball stars of today during the Final Four this Saturday, but don’t miss a chance to see the stars of next season compete in the 2007 McDonald’s All American game tonight. The game will be played in Freedom Hall in Louisville and televised at 7 PM (central) on ESPN.
In last year’s game, the nation got their first glimpse of Kevin Durant, who earned co-MVP honors along with Arizona signee Chase Budinger. There's likely not another Durant in this year’s class but there will definitely be future college and NBA stars on display.
Players to Watch:
OJ Mayo--Mayo, future USC Trojan and of YouTube fame, Mayo has some serious game to go with his serious attitude.
Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas--Patterson is a 5-star power forward and the highest rated unsigned player in the country. Lucas is the son of former NBA player John Lucas. Both players appeared to be headed to Kentucky before Tubby Smith’s departure. It remains unclear where they land now.
Derrick Rose--Rose is the 6-4 point guard that Memphis was lacking from this year’s Elite Eight team. Assuming all the Tigers stay in school and that Coach Calipari stays put, as it appears he will, Rose makes Memphis serious title contenders next season.
Eric Gordon--The first prize delivered by Kelvin Samson to Indiana. Gordon, who is ranked as the second best player in the country by Rivals.com, originally committed verbally to Illinois before changing his mind and signing with the Hoosiers. Losing kids like Gordon, a 6-4 5-star shooting guard, to Big 10 rivals is exactly what will cost Bruce Weber his job in the next two years.
Michael Beasley--Beasley will probably be a one and done player for Bob Huggins at Kansas State but, along with a healthy Bill Walker, will instantly make the Wildcats contenders in the Big 12. I haven’t seen him play live and am looking forward to seeing how much polish this 6-9 235 lb power forward already has.
There are 24 total McDonald’s All Americans. All but two of them (Patterson and Lucas) have signed letters of intent. Duke leads the way with three McDonald’s All Americans followed by Syracuse and Georgetown with two each. No other school signed more than one. Among Big 12 schools, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State have each signed one McDonald’s All American. None of the four players in Texas’ incoming class were selected this year.
--AW--
0 recs |
16 comments
Email
Print
Comments
new york city horns?
the jordan classic is on april 21. this mcdonalds all american game does not include any 2007-08 horns, but the jordan classic will include at least two, i believe (any idea PHF? i refuse to do any research...). does anyone want to go? if i can get a few people signed up, i can buy some tickets and we can have a get together and see these guys before they wear the burnt orange unis.
by billyzane on Mar 28, 2007 1:44 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
AW said Johnson was invited
So I checked the roster, and sure enough, it's just Gary J. http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classi...
BTW, remember that KD was the co-MVP of this event last year.
You should drop NYCHorn a note and see if you can get him to go along. He and I took in KD's coming out party at MSG last December.
by patienthornsfan on Mar 28, 2007 3:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Speaking of Durant
He's now won:
Adolph Rupp Trophy http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
Oscar Robertson Trophy http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
NABC National POY http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
NABC 1st Team All-American http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
AP 1st Team All-American http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
Big XII POY and FOY http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
Finalist for Naismith Trophy http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
Finalist for Wooden Award http://www.texassports.com/index.php...
Any doubt this guy's jersey ends up in the rafters at the Erwin Center, next to TJ's?
by patienthornsfan on Mar 28, 2007 3:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
O.J. Mayo
In case you missed the article about him in the NY Times last week, here is the link.
Pretty amazing story that he recruited USC more than they recruited him.
by TXBuckeye on Mar 28, 2007 1:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Any one else glad he is not coming here?
That is about the worst story I have ever heard. The title should be "Why OJ Mayo owns coach Floyd"
by Wells on Mar 28, 2007 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ha!
I sort of agree. It definitely won't be about the team when he is there. It will be all about marketing himself and making himself look as good as possible in LA before he leaves in a year for the NBA.
by TXBuckeye on Mar 28, 2007 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Disagree that
There's likely not another Kevin Durant in this year's class. OJ Mayo has been touted for a quite some time, long before anyone ever heard of Kevin Durant. He was a nice surprise at Texas, and thats an understatement (ex: national player of the year, freshman of the year, etc..) But in the sense that there won't be another player that can come in and dominate like Durant, please. Carmelo did it, Durant did it, and surely there is more than just an "unlikely" chance that someone with the skills of OJ mayo could do it. We all love Durant, but there is a little homerism there.
by joey on Mar 28, 2007 3:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Carmelo
Was not even as close to as dominant. His numbers weren't as good and he did not have to carry the load that Durant had to because he played on a much more veteran team.
That is not to say that it is not possible for Mayo to be as good as Durant was this year. I don't really know enough about him to say that, but it will be tough for him to live up to the hype he has created for himself.
by Wells on Mar 28, 2007 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Please
The hype regarding last year's high school senior class was off the charts. It wasn't just Durant and Oden either. It was Budinger, Thaddeus Young, Brandan Wright, etc. And the class, aided largely by the NBA rule change, more than lived up to the hype. You heard all season how this this year's freshman class was one of the best. Next year's class, Mayo included, has a lot to live up to.
I stand by my statement: there is not another Durant in this class. In fact, we will be privledged to see another Durant in any class in the next twenty years.
Mayo is outstanding and will be one and down at USC, but he is not even in the same class as Kevin Durant.
by awiggo on Mar 28, 2007 7:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
durant >> carmelo
Comparing Carmelo to Durant? pfffft! what's next? comparing George Bush to George Washington?
It's not only me, his biggest personal accomplishment was being selected to the second-team all-america by AP... go figure.
by Cyrus on Mar 28, 2007 8:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
OJ @ Huntington
I saw him play on one of those shameful ESPN high school broadcasts, and he was absolutely sick. That said, there were other D1 prospects on the team (such as Patterson), and OJ ball-hogged the entire game. And you wonder why he's kept rotating through high schools.
The one guy I'm most excited to see in this class next year is Kevin Love. As a PF, he probably won't get many touches in this game, but he's supposed to be fantastic.
by jc25 on Mar 28, 2007 3:58 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Lucas could be a Sooner
OU is in heavy on Lucas and his dad said last night both OU and OSU are strong considerations. If he lands in Norman it would be a huge boost to the roster along with fellow McDonald's All-American Blake Griffin who won the dunk contest.
by MattH on Mar 29, 2007 9:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Does Duke really recruit that well?
Or is a mix of both great recruiting and the McDs selection committee saying if he is going to Duke, 1. he must be great and 2. more people will be interested in watching because of how many duke followers there are (both fans and haters)?
by Wells on Mar 29, 2007 11:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Hold the Mayo
Not a good showing on the big stage for OJ:
"Even in defeat, Mayo proved to be the center of attention. The highly recruited guard will play at Southern California next season, and as the game's marquee player, he heard it from a partisan crowd that peppered him with chants of "overrated."
"I'm used to it, I don't notice it," Mayo said.
Mayo did notice the inordinate amount of attention he received from the West, who harassed him into tough shots all night. He missed six of his first seven attempts and finished with 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting."
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hig...
Given the amount of attention he has brought on himself, he may be hearing those chants a lot next year.
KSU commit Michael Beasley won the MVP. Could it be KSU not KU we're battling for the Big XII title next year?
by patienthornsfan on Mar 30, 2007 1:49 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
O.J. Mayo...
is the next Maurice Clarett. And this is a Buckeye fan saying so.
Brian at MGoBlog titled his post on the Floyd-Mayo story "In Soviet Russia, O.J. Mayo Recruits You", which is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
I'm serious, though: this kid is just crazy, and not in a benign, endearing, Gilbert Arenas way, but more like Ron Artest on a faster career track. Something bad will happen to him (or be done by him) during his short time in L.A., I'm guessing...and, just like it was w/ MoC, it'll be a horrible, tragic waste of a superlative talent.
by matsut on Mar 30, 2007 5:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Burnt Orange Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
