(BLUE STAR MEDIA)—While people may angle, leverage, plot, suck up, change addresses and generally get completely irrational when it comes to positioning their favorite player/daughter to be named a McDonald’s All-American, the big “reveal” each year is a still a special moment on the basketball landscape. The 24 honorees from the 2019 class were announced Thursday afternoon on ESPN’s The Jump. The two 12 player teams will face off in the 18th annual McDonald’s All-American Girls Game set for State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The honorees were chosen from an extensive list of nominees (over 800 for both boys and girls) representing 46 different states. The game itself will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 5 p.m. on Wednesday March 27th.
The annual bragging rights of college recruiting go to both coasts. South Carolina and Stanford can each claim three McDonald’s All-Americans in their 2019 signing classes. Four more (Florida State, Maryland, Notre Dame, UCLA) each have two new additions coming to campus with Ronald McDonald as a reference on their athletic resume’. From a conference standpoint, the Pac-12 leads the way with seven followed by the ACC with six and five more headed to the SEC. If you want to look at the breakdown from the geographical point of view, the Buckeye Sate of Ohio leads the way with four while California and Texas each have three claiming honors.
So, before the finger pointing, whining and claims of injustice start flying, keep in mind that there is a “position” component to the selection process with it actually being a game. Also remember the size of the selection committee negates any one individual from making a person a McDonald’s All-American or keeping an individual from being named one. Promises to the contrary are illusions with a self-serving agenda so future classes should take them with a grain…or shaker…of salt. Lots of claims will be flying around as to who had a hand in this year’s selections getting their named called. In the end, it’s the players accomplishment. It’s an insult when an insecure entity has to inflate their credibility by way of the success achieved by a teenaged athlete.
Just a few weeks ago Blue Star Media ran a “mid-season” report on how the 2018 McDonald’s All-Americans were faring in their freshman campaigns on the collegiate level. It’s a tough road even for those who get the prize in the high school Happy Meal. Follow the link below to see some interesting January stats.
https://www.bluestarmedia.org/mid-season-mcdonalds-follow-up/
Today we’ll simply say congratulations to the 2019 selections because tomorrow…let’s face it…you go back to work with the even higher expectations that always come with the Golden Arches. Then again, the best athletes always expect more of themselves anyway. We’re watching…even closer!
Below are the names of those athletes who will be suiting up in Atlanta on the 27th of March. They’re alphabetical as an entire group rather than by team so, as always, no need to read anything into the order.
