McDonald's announced their list of 24 high school All-Americans on Thursday and here's a brief glimpse of the squad breakdowns.
One of the first things that jumped out to me as the fact that the West has a quite obvious height advantage, with two Californians combining for over 13 feet of length. Candace Agee at 6-6 and Imani Stafford at 6-7 will have at least three inches on everyone from the East, and will tower over West teammate Jordan Jones (the shortest selection at 5-6) by over a foot!
Other than that, the proliferation of Big East commitments on both teams was something definitely noticed as I looked down the line. Seeing multiple players heading to Connecticut and Notre Dame are not all that surprising, but Syracuse, Rutgers and current member West Virginia also got nods. That means nearly a third of the ladies in the game will be playing with and against one another at the culmination of their prep careers!
Both the boys and girls games are slated to be played March 28 in Chicago at the United Center. The girls will play at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
The East Team is -
G Brianna Butler (5-11, 174); Nazareth Regional, NY (Brooklyn, NY) - committed to Syracuse
G Kahleah Copper (6-1, 150); Prep Charter, PA (Philadelphia, PA) - committed to Rutgers
F Bashaara Graves (6-2, 191); Clarksville, TN (Clarksville, TN) - committed to Tennessee
G Bria Holmes (6-1, 154); James E. Hillhouse, CT (Hamden, CT) - committed to West Virginia
F/C Malina Howard (6-3, 210); Twinsburg, OH (Twinsburg, OH) - committed to Maryland
G Niya Johnson G (5-7, 153); P.K. Young, FL (Gainesville, FL) - committed to Baylor
G Michaela Mabrey (5-9, 138); Manasquan, NJ (Belmar, NJ) - committed to Notre Dame
G/F Sierra Moore (5-11, 162); Delone Catholic, PA (Hanover, PA) - committed to Duke
G/F Alexis Prince (6-2, 180); Edgewater, FL (Orlando, FL) - committed to Baylor
F Breanna Stewart (6-3, 170); Cicero-North Syracuse, NY (North Syracuse, NY) - committed to Connecticut
G Brittney Sykes (5-9, 140); University, NJ (Newark, NJ) - committed to Syracuse
G Janee Thompson (5-7, 128); Whitney Young, IL (Chicago, IL) - committed to Kentucky
The West Team is -
G Jordan Adams (6-1, 175); Mater Dei, CA (Irvine, CA) - committed to USC
F/C Candice Agee (6-6, 180); Silverado, CA (Victorville, CA) - committed to Penn State
C Katie Collier (6-3, 155); Seattle Christian, WA (Kent, WA) - committed to Washington
G Nirra Fields (5-9, 150); Mater Dei, CA (Los Angeles, CA) - committed to UCLA
G Moriah Jefferson (5-7, 123); Home School (Dallas, TX) - committed to Connecticut
G Alexis Jones (5-8, 150); MacArthur, TX (Irving, TX) - committed to Duke
G Jordan Jones (5-6, 128); DeSoto, TX (DeSoto, TX) - committed to Texas A&M
G Jewell Loyd (5-9, 155); Niles West, IL (Lincolnwood, IL) - committed to Notre Dame
F/C Xylina McDaniel (6-2, 186); Spring Valley, SC (Columbia, SC) - committed to North Carolina
C Imani Stafford (6-7, 185); Windward, CA (Los Angeles, CA) - committed to Texas
F Morgan Tuck (6-2, 180); Bolingbrook, IL (Bolingbrook, IL) - committed to Connecticut
G/F Courtney Williams (6-1, 167); North Shore, TX (Houston, TX) - committed to Texas A&M
As you see while perusing the list, the Big East is highly represented with a benchmark of 8 1/2 players that plan to play their college ball in the league. (Yes, a half... West Virginia commitment Bria Holmes is a halfsie for the Big East and Big 12 since we don't really know when the conference switch will be taking place quite yet). The ACC came up second, with five players, followed by the Big 12's 3 1/2. The Pac-12 and SEC (including new member Texas A&M) have three on the list and the Big Ten rounds out the conference representations with one. And if you like lists instead of sentences, here ya go!
Selections by college conference/school -
Big East - 8 1/2 [Connecticut (3), Notre Dame (2), Syracuse (2), Rutgers (1), West Virginia (1/2)]
ACC - 5 [ Duke (2), Maryland (1), North Carolina (1), Kentucky (1)]
Big 12 - 3 1/2 [Baylor (2), Texas A&M (2), Texas (1), West Virginia (1/2)]
Pac-12 - 3 [ UCLA (1), USC (1), Washington (1)]
SEC - 3 [Texas A&M (2), Tennessee (1)]
Big Ten - 1 [Penn State (1)]
Selections by home state -
California - 4 [Adams, Agee, Fields, Stafford]
Texas - 4 [Jefferson, A. Jones, J. Jones, Williams]
Illinois - 3 [Loyd, Thompson, Tuck]
Florida - 2 [Johnson, Prince]
New Jersey - 2 [Mabrey, Sykes]
New York - 2 [Butler, Stewart]
Pennsylvania - 2 [Copper, Moore]
Connecticut - 1 [Holmes]
Ohio - 1 [Howard]
South Carolina - 1 [McDaniel]
Tennessee - 1 [Graves]
Washington - 1 [Collier]