With 24 of the country's top high school basketball players convening in Houston, Texas, for the 2023 McDonald's All-American game. There are a lot of exciting storylines you can follow. The first that comes to mind is DJ Wagner from Camden High School in New Jersey, the first third-generation selection to every play in the historic game. Both his Father, Dajuan, Sr, and Grandfather, Milton, were selected in 1981 and 2001, respectively. If you know anything about the Wagner family, they are buckets!
Following the wager storyline, you go right into the NBA legacy children, headlined by Bronny James (Father Lebron James), Andrej Stojaković (Father Peja Stojaković), and the above mention DJ Wagner (Father Dajuan & Grandfather Milton). The athletic lineage in this game is truly something special with some of the NBA parents. Several participants also have fathers who were very successful high school and college players. Stephon Castle's father was a standout at Oak Hill Academy before going on to play at Wake Forest, and Kwame Evans, Jr father, Kwame Sr, was a standout at George Washington and currently ranks 5th all-time on their scoring list.
And the storylines keep coming; we could talk about who is going to what college next season, with Kentucky leading the way with 4 participants Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards, DJ Wagner, and Reed Sheppard. Duke is next in line with 3 participants, Sean Stewart, Jared McCain, and Mackenzie Mgbako. While Oregon and Michigan State round out the list with 2 participants each, Mookie Cook and Kwame Evans, Jr to Oregon and Jeremy Fears and Xavier Booker to Michigan State.
Lastly, we could talk about NBA projections, as several participants are already receiving interest regarding the 2024 NBA Draft. You'll have to watch and see who ends up where in next year's draft, but in the meantime, enjoy the game and check out our McDonald's All-American Player Profiles linked above and below. While we won't go in-depth here, these kids are incredibly talented and possess skills and physical attributes that are immediately transferable at the professional level.
Until next time...
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