Assuming Your Team is Not in the Final Four or Headed to the NBA Playoffs…

Wednesday, March 30^th is the 34^th annual Boy’s McDonald’s All-American (MAA) game.  For NBA fans, this is often the first glimpse of future greatness. Many recall this event was the first time they saw LeBron James, who scored 27 points while earning the MVP in the 2003 event.

But with the one-and-done rule in the NBA, this event has returned to its college roots. It is a chance to hype incoming college freshman.  And no one can deny that there is something quite special about bringing in a “burger boy”.  Three years ago, I remember all the buzz when Mike Rosario was named a MAA prior to attending Rutgers.  He was the first MAA in Rutgers history, and Fred Hill was finally turning a corner.  Except, that Fred Hill was fired two years later.  And Rosario transferred to Florida.

This all goes to show a key lesson about these players.  Not all McDonald’s All-Americans are created equally.  Top 10 RSCI recruits (i.e. consensus picks) are fantastic.  Austin Rivers (headed to Duke), Michael Gilchrist, Anthony Davis, and Marquis Teague (all headed to Kentucky), Bradley Beal (headed to Florida), and James McAdoo (headed to North Carolina), will almost certainly be impact players.  But outside the top 10, the impact tends to be much less consistent.

And the McDonald’s All-American game often includes some players that have either risen late in the recruiting cycle, or who are flat out surprises.  In particular, a lot of people think that if Duke recruit Marshall Plumlee did not already have two older brothers at Duke, that he would not have been invited to this game.

Similarly, some people wonder if Ohio St. recruit Amir Williams is really among the top 24 players in the country.  He should be a fine center some day, but he is not considered to be the caliber of Jared Sullinger this season.  To some extent, getting the approval of an elite coach may be the difference for those last invites.  Because Thad Matta has had so much success with young centers, his willingness to go out and get Amir Williams may have resulted in a McDonald’s All-American seal of approval.  A MAA game invite is not always indicative of what advanced scouts have seen.

The MAA game also frequently misses players.  Quincy Miller (headed to Baylor) is not included on the MAA team despite high recruit rankings.  In Miller’s case, a December knee injury is to blame.  (And given how Delvon Roe never really recovered for Michigan St., that may be legitimate.)  But to say that the MAA team includes every elite prospect is simply not true.  Furthermore, not every impact college player was an elite recruit.  Jimmer Fredette was ranked 75^th in the country, but that was not his rank nationally.  That was his rank among shooting guards.

Despite these caveats, this game should include plenty of very exciting players.  Here are the official 2011 rosters:

- Austin Rivers has been talked about for some time.  Georgetown and Indiana both gave playing time to his brother in hopes of recruiting him.  And Florida was viewed as a likely destination for a long time.  But ultimately Duke prevailed.  With Nolan Smith graduating and Kyrie Irving likely leaving for the draft, Rivers should step in and start at point guard for the Blue Devils next season.

- Tom Crean has proven to be a great developer of young guards, but Indiana needs an impact post player in the worst way.  They hope that Cody Zeller, the younger brother of North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller, can make a difference.

- Myck Kabongo’s decision to go to Texas is a little puzzling.  Texas already has an elite freshman point guard in Cory Joseph, and it is not clear who will get to start at point guard for the Longhorns next season.

- Michigan St. gets an incredible rebounder for a wing player in Branden Dawson.

- With Marshall Moses graduating, many expect LeBryan Nash to step in and be Oklahoma St.’s best player next season.  But whether he is Oklahoma St.’s best player, he should be the most entertaining.  Nash won Monday’s MAA dunk contest.

- Khem Birch reclassified to a year earlier and committed to Pitt in November.  He was not even expected to be eligible for this game last August.

- Kentucky has four players on the East and West squads.  But it is a little hard to predict who will be an impact player.  John Calipari has become such an NBA pipeline, if several players leave for the NBA draft again, all of these Kentucky players could see significant minutes.

- Louisville has a pretty deep recruiting class all around this year, but none of the players stand out as being clear impact players.  It will be interesting to see who best fits into Rick Pitino’s system.  Louisville recruit Wayne Blackshear was injured in practice this week and is not expected to play in the game.

- Memphis coach Josh Pastner doesn’t have quite the haul of elite recruits he had last year, but assuming his freshman class sticks around, Adonis Thomas will join a lineup filled with elite sophomores.

- Bradley Beal might be the best shooter in the MAA game this year, and he is headed to Florida.  With Chandler Parson’s graduating, Florida will need another elite shooter at the wing.

- Georgia’s Travis Leslie has been a great penetrator and scorer for the Bulldogs, but he is not someone who can spread the floor with his three point shooting.  Georgia fans hope Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can fill a more traditional shooting role.

- If Tyler Zeller goes pro, (and there is some question about that), James McAdoo should be able to step in as a polished post-scorer for North Carolina.

- After Fab Melo played so little this season, some people are hesitant to predict great things for this Syracuse recruiting class, but Jim Boeheim almost always has room in his lineup for elite players.

- Johnny O’Bryant is another one of those players who is not quite ranked in the top 24 across the board, but it means a lot to embattled LSU head coach Trent Johnson to have a player in this game.  O’Bryant will have plenty of opportunity to play and be the focal point of the LSU offense next season.

Click here to see Real GM’s archives of past McDonald’s All-American Games.