Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint.
By David Cordova
For many high school players around the United States, there are plenty of goals that they want to achieve throughout their four years. Win a state championship, obtain an athletic scholarship and last but not least, earn a selection to play in the McDonald’s All-American Game.
The last one is a very difficult goal to achieve as few are chosen & called to play in the game. That honor is for the creme de la creme, the elite of the basketball world. If you’re one of the twenty-four hopefuls chosen to participate in the game, that means that you are among the best in your class.
Since 1977, the best players in the nation have showcased their talents as a preview for the next level: the college game. Before the NBA changed the draft rule to 19 years of age in 2005, some of the participants in this game used their participation as an audition for playing in the NBA, as representatives of all of the teams in the league were there to watch in action.
Just like Wrestle Mania is to the WWE, like the NBA Finals is to the NBA, like the Final Four is to college basketball, the McDonald’s All-American Game is one of those extravaganzas that many wait for throughout the year.
This year, the general public in New York City will have something to be excited for, because on Tuesday, April 1st, this storied event will be taking place at the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn. Both the girls and the boys will be hooping and showcasing their talents on the home court of the Brooklyn Nets.
Unfortunately, in both games, the city doesn’t have a representative. However, the neighboring state, New Jersey, does have two representatives.
Darius Adams, a guard who plays his high school basketball at famed powerhouse La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana, is a native of Manchester, New Jersey, and once played at Manasquan High School during his freshman and sophomore year and is rated at No. 27 in the class of 2025 by ESPN.
He also has ties to the city as well, as he played for The Bronx-based PSA Cardinals on the Nike EYBL circuit for the past couple of years. Next season, he will be making plenty of noise, as he will be playing collegiate basketball for the defending national champions, the UConn Huskies.
The other representative is none other than Mia Pauldo, one-half of the famed Twin Backcourt duo, along with her twin sister, Miya. A native of Paterson, New Jersey, she & her sister both play their high school ball at Morris Catholic High School in suburban Denville, which is in Morris County.
Last season, the Pauldo sisters led the Crusaders to a state championship. This year, the goal is the same, as they also led their team to an upset of the No. 2 team in the nation, Archbishop Mitty, from San Diego, California at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts earlier this month. Next season, they will be doing their seasonal work in the SEC, as they will be playing for Tennessee.
Another kid with ties to the Metro area, but not from the city is Meleek Thomas, a guard from Pittsburgh, who is rated as the No. 10 recruit in the class of 2025, also by ESPN. For the past couple of seasons, he played for the New Heights Lightning in the Nike EYBL circuit, leading them to the quarterfinals of the Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina this past July.
At the present time, he is playing for the City Reapers of the Overtime Elite league, but will be doing his seasonal work in the SEC next season at Arkansas.
As for the fact that the game is in the city, many in this day and age may not know, but this is the third time that the famed game will be in New York City.
The first time that McDonald’s Game came to the city was April 3rd, 1994, when it was played at the old Alumni Hall (now known as Carnesecca Arena) on the campus of St. John’s University in Jamaica, Queens.
In this game, there were plenty of future NBA players in the game, such as Antoine Walker, Chris Herren, the late Lorenzen Wright, Raef LaFrentz and Trajan Langdon. But there were four players in the game from New York State.
One was Adonal Foyle, who played his high school hoops in Central New York at Hamilton Central School. Then there was also Zendon Hamilton, out of Sewanhaka High School in Floral Park, Long Island. And lastly, there were two guys out of The Bronx in Kareem Reid from St. Raymond High School and Felipe Lopez, who played at Rice High School in Harlem.
All four would go on to play on the East team, which won 112-110, with Lopez, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, winning the MVP award with 24 points. Hamilton went on to have 16 points and nine rebounds. It was fitting that both Hamilton and Lopez both had great performances on that court, as they went on to play four years at St. John’s.
Reid, who would go on to be the all-time assist leader at the University of Arkansas and is currently an assistant coach at his alma mater, St. Raymond’s, had 12 points and five assists. He is also one of three players in St. Raymond’s history to also have the distinction of being a McDonald’s All-American.
The next time that the McDonald’s All-American Game hit the city was on April 4th, 2002, this time at the World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden.
In this class, there were future pros such as J.J. Redick, Hassan Adams, Anthony Roberson, Chris Bosh, Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Amare Stoudamire.
The local guys from the New York area in this game were Jason Fraser out of Amityville High School in Amityville, Long Island and future NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony, originally from the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, but moved to Baltimore in his younger years and went on to play at the famed Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia.
In the game, the East team, which both of them were a part of, would win the game, 138-107, over the West team, Fraser would have a double-double with 13 points & 10 rebounds and Anthony had 19 points.
That year was filled with another milestone, as it was the first year of the girls game, which was won by the West team, 94-85, over the East, as future UConn Husky and WNBA player Ann Strother was the inaugural MVP of the game with 21 points.
Aside from the games that have taken place in the area, there have been some great classes with players that came from New York City. One group was the class of 1990, when five players from the city in the Christ the King duo of Derrick Phelps and Khalid Reeves and the duo of the now-defunct St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School, Adrian Autry and Brian Reese. The other player was Anthony Cade, who went to Tolentine, but then finished out his high school career at Oak Hill.
On April 15th, 1990, at the old Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana, the city guys definitely showed out in the East’s 115-104 win over the West, as Reeves was named the Co-MVP alongside a future NBA player in center Shawn Bradley. Reeves went on to put up a great performance of 22 points and 10 steals. Despite only scoring eight points in the game, Autry held his own distribution clinic by having 11 assists in the game.
Another occurrence where New York City players shone brightly was the class of 1996 in which Ed Cota & Shaheen Holloway held their own on the national spotlight. Although it looks like they represented other states when you look them up, Cota, who was then at St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Connecticut, is a Brooklyn native who had previously played at Samuel J. Tilden High School. Also, Holloway, who is now the head coach at Seton Hall University, and played his high school ball at the original St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is a native of South Jamaica, Queens.
On March 31st, 1996, at the old Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, the East team won 120-105, with Cota going for 11 points & six rebounds and Holloway stealing the show with his passing ability, finishing with seven points and eight assists, as he won the MVP award in the game.
There have been many other great moments synonymous with the McDonald’s Game and New York City, but there was a year in which three guards represented the city with pride and honor.
The class of 2000 produced a solid trio of guys from the CHSAA (Catholic High Schools Athletic Association) in Omar Cook, a Brooklyn native who played for Christ The King High School in Queens, Andre Barrett, a native of The Bronx who played at Rice High School in Harlem and Taliek Brown, a Queens native who played at St. John’s Preparatory School in his beloved home borough. This crew was called, “the Holy Trinity,” as they were known as the three best point guards in the Big Apple.
In the fall of 1999, prior to their respective senior seasons, they played for a team called B/Q Express at the famed IS8 tournament in South Jamaica, Queens. They showed that they could all play together and held their own against any group.
On March 29th, 2000, at the Fleet Center (now known as TD Garden) in Boston, all three suited up for the East team in front of the national spotlight. Although the West team came out victorious, winning 146-120, the trio held their own amongst the nation’s best. Cook finished with eight points & three assists, Brown had 11 points & six assists and Barrett had seven points & 12 assists.
With this year’s game not having a New York State player or even one from the five boroughs, it is a tough thing for many to grasp. However, it will still be a great event to watch as there are plenty of great players in the game that will play collegiate basketball next year and in a couple of years, the NBA, or in the case of the girls game, the WNBA.
On the boys side, there are some generational talents worth watching such as the No. 1 player in the nation, AJ Dybantsa, a native of Brockton, Mass., who has signed NIL deals with brands such as Nike and Red Bull and will be playing for Brigham Young University next fall.
Then there are other gems such as Nate Ament out of Manassas, Virginia, who is currently unsigned and is a Reebok NIL athlete. Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of former NBA player turned broadcaster, Carlos Boozer, who also played in the 1999 McDonald’s All-American Game in Iowa, who will be playing for Duke next season. Darryn Peterson out of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, is an Adidas NIL athlete and is also the No. 2 player in the nation, and will be playing for Kansas next season. Orlando’s very own Christopher “Mikel” Brown, Jr., a guard who is also an Adidas NIL athlete like the aforementioned Peterson, will be playing for Louisville next fall.
On the girls side, there are some special ladies coming into town, as there is the unsigned Aaliyah Chavez out of Lubbock, Texas, then there is Deniya Prawl out of Toronto, Canada, who will be playing at Tennessee next season, alongside the Pauldo twins. Sienna Betts, the No. 2 player in the nation out of Aurora, Colorado, will be playing at UCLA next season.
In both games, there will be plenty of star-studded talent coming to town that will wow the Brooklyn crowd and entertain many with their play. And for those that can’t make it or can’t afford the tickets to get into the Barclays Center, there is always the lens of ESPN that they can watch the games on.
For the third time, one of the biggest all-star games for high schoolers will be taking place in the Big Apple, a place that many call the “Mecca of Basketball.” For those that are not from New York City, you’ll see why the game is revered in this place so much. There’s nothing like the dunks, the clear-outs and the prestige that comes with playing in this city.
For the out-of-towners, there’s the thrill of playing in New York and also playing in an NBA arena. On April 1st, if they haven’t yet, they’ll be able to take in the opportunity of playing in this grand media market.
For the spectators, it will be a chance to see these stars that they usually see on Instagram or on YouTube mixtapes in person, live and direct, before they go off to the college ranks. Five years from now, they’ll be able to say that they saw these players in action, before they made it big.
There’s nothing like the joy of being named an All-American.
Dave's JOINT 
Leave a comment