McDonald's All-American Predictions

Last year it was fairly easy to predict the players for the McDonald’s All-American, but this year it’s a different story. The 38^th all-star game will take place at the United Center in Chicago (IL) on April 1. Here’s a look at my 24 predictions:

The Top Tier:

1) Ben Simmons, 6’8”, SF, Montverde Academy (HS)

2) Jaylen Brown, 6’7”, SF, Wheeler (GA)

Simmons and Brown are the top two players in both the Scout and ESPN rankings. Brown had the better game in the one head to head match-up at the City of Palms tournament this year and his team got the win but both players have been on another level this year after showing tremendous improvement beginning last spring. 

The Big Men Locks:

3) Diamond Stone, 6’10”, C, Dominican (WI)

4) Ivan Rabb, 6’10”, PF, Bishop O’ Dowd (CA)

5) Henry Ellenson, 6’10”, F, Rice Lake (WI)

6) Stephen Zimmerman, 6’11”, F/C, Bishop Gorman (NV)

7) Chase Jeter, 6’10”, PF, PF, Bishop Gorman (NV)

There’s no shortage of big men talent in the 2015 class. Stone, Rabb, and Zimmerman are still uncommitted while Ellenson is headed to Marquette and Jeter is off to replace Jahlil Okafor at Duke. All five players played for different variations of the USA basketball teams and will be looking to carry their high school teams to state championships.

The Guards:

8)   Malik Newman, 6’3”, G, Callaway (MS)

9)   Jalen Brunson, 6’2”, PG, Stevenson (IL)

10) Isaiah Briscoe, 6’2”, G, Roselle Catholic (NJ)

11) Allonzo Trier, 6’4”, SG, Findlay Prep (NV)

12) Luke Kennard, 6’5”, SG, Franklin (OH)

The above guards have all been in the top of their class since stepping onto the high school scene. It took Brunson until his sophomore year to get national recognition, but now he will try to follow in his father’s footsteps and take home the MVP honors just like Rick did in 1991.

Highly Probable:

13) Cheick Diallo, 6’9”, C, Our Savior New American School (NY)

14) Carlton Bragg, 6’9”. PF, Villa Angela – St Joseph (OH)

15) Caleb Swanigan, 6’8”, PF, Homestead (IN)

16) Antonio Blakeney, 6’4”, SG, Oak Ridge (FL)

17) Dwayne Bacon, 6’6”, SF, Oak Hill Academy (VA)

18) Jawun Evans, 6’0”, PG, Kimball (TX)

19) Brandon Ingram, 6’8”, SF, Kingston (NC)

Diallo, Bragg, and Swanigan are all five-star big men. Diallo started the year hurt, but is the best shot blocker in the class. Bragg just committed to Kansas and Swanigan is a workhorse downlow. The LSU bound Blakeney is one of the top scorers in high school and Dwayne Bacon has stepped his game up for Oak Hill. Evans will be added for point guard depth and will be the quickest guard in Chicago while Brandon Ingram will get to continue his head to head battles with Jaylen Brown. 

Rounding Out the Team:

20) Jalen Coleman Lands, 6’4”, SG, La Lumiere School (IN)

21) Tyler Dorsey, 6’4”, SG, Marantha (CA)

Coleman-Lands and Dorsey are both explosive scorers. Coleman-Lands is one of the top shooters in the country and Dorsey has put together multiple 40 point games in California.

The Longshots:

22) Daniel Giddens, 6’10”, C, Oak Hill (VA)

23) Derrick Jones, 6’6”, Archbishop Carroll (PA)

24) Charles Matthews, 6’5”, SG, St. Rita (IL)

Two years ago Kennedy Meeks was a surprise selection to the McDonald’s All-American game and last year 7’0” center Thomas Welsh got the nod. This year the surprise will go to Charles Matthews. At one point he was the top ranked shooting guard in his class but has struggled in marquee events over the past two years. As a senior, Matthews has put together a strong season in Chicago and should get the local nod in addition to the Kentucky bump to get him in the All-Star game. 

Others:

There are numerous top players that could easily slide into the McDonald's game including Louisville's trio of recruits in Ray Spalding, Donovan Mitchell, and Deng Adel. Other possible names include Brewster teammates Justin Simon and Jalen Adams and a few Texas natives in Tyler Davis, Elijah Thomas, and Austin Grandstaff. 

Big East & Big XII (Through 1/26/15)

Big East:

We are over a third of the way through the conference play and things are very exciting in the Big East. 6 of the 10 teams are within two games of first place. That doesn't even include St. John’s who was looking like a NCAA team until they started 1-4 in conference. With all of these teams bunched up the battle for player of the year and first-team all-Big East are competitive and very fluid. Expect this list to change on a weekly basis. (Conference stats listed below as of 1/26)

Player of the Year:

Kris Dunn (So. - Providence) – 16.6 ppg, 8.6 apg, 7.0 rbg

Kris Dunn is the straw that stirs the drink for the 5-2 Friars. After fighting off injuries for the first two years Dunn is finally living up to the expectations he had as a top recruit. Dunn leads the league in assists, is 5^th in scoring, 6^th in rebounding, and contributes 2.0 steals per game, which is 2^nd in Big East play. He also dominated OT, outscoring the Georgetown Hoyas by himself, in a win against the first place squad earlier in the season.

All Conference Team: 

Roosevelt Jones (Jr. – Butler) – 16.5 ppg, 6.5 rbg, 2.9 apg

Jones has done a good job returning from being red-shirt last year to lead Butler along with Kellan Dunham. He went for 28 in a last second loss to Georgetown last week. Jones is 4^th in the conference in scoring, 10^th in rebounding and 11^th in assists for the 5-3 Bulldogs.

LaDontae Henton (Sr. - Providence) – 23.4 ppg, 6.3 rbg

Henton has been on the receiving end on a lot of the Kris Dunn assists. The highly skilled wing leads the conference in scoring pouring in over 23 a game. Henton shoots the three well making 2.6 a game in conference play. LaDontae has been a workhorse in Big East play for Ed Cooley, averaging 39.6 minutes per game.

Ryan Arcidiacono (Jr. - Villanova) – 12.0 ppg, 4.6 apg

“Arch” as he’s known to fans is one of three or four guys from Villanova deserving consideration for this spot. The guard leads the top-ten Wildcats in assists and is their second leading scoring.

Sterling Gibbs (Jr. - Seton Hall) – 17.6 ppg, 3.9 apg

Gibbs is the best player on the surprisings Pirates. He leads the team in scoring that is still breaking in two big-time freshman, Isaiah Whitehead – who will be returning from injury soon, and Angel Delgado.

On the Verge –D’vauntes Smith-Rivera (Jr. - Georgetown), D’Angelo Harrison (Sr. - St. John’s), Darrun Hilliard (Sr. – Villanova)

Freshman of the Year:

Angel Delgado (Seton Hall) – 10.4 ppg, 10.6 rbg,

Delgado has been a workhorse for the Pirates, averaging a double-double in conference play. He’s been particularly tough on the offensive glass, where he leads the conference with three per game. Seton Hall is on a three game conference losing streak, but Delgado went for 19 points and 19 rebounds against DePaul last Thursday.

On the Verge – Isaac Copeland (Georgetown) – After going scoreless in an overtime loss to Providence on January 10, Copeland has been steadily improving. Eight points in a win at DePaul, followed up by a game winning three against Butler and then 17 points and 6 rebounds against both Villanova and Marquette on 12-18 shooting.  

BIG 12:

A balanced conference with 6 ranked teams and 6 teams sporting a conference record of .500 or better. As Kansas proved this weekend in Austin, the road to the regular season goes through Lawrence until proven otherwise. Iowa State staked their claim to with a win over the Jayhawks in front of a raucous crowd, but then fell in Lubbock to a winless Texas Tech squad. The conference’s strength and balance was shown when West Virginia, Texas, and Oklahoma took turns beating each other by 20.

POY: 

Buddy Heild (Jr. - Oklahoma) – 21.4 ppg, 6.1 rbg,

One of the best pure scorers in college basketball, Heild leads a potent Sooners attack and has poured in over 20 in 5 of 6 conference games. Buddy scored 27 without missing a shot from the field in a win over OSU and then followed that up with 26 points in a close loss at Kansas. The athletic wing also averages 1.4 steals per game.

All Conference Team: 

Monte Morris (So. Iowa State) – 10 ppg, 4.2 rbg, 6.3 apg

Morris has stepped right in to fill the big shoes left by the Deandre Kane, the Cyclones do everything point guard from last year. Morris leads the conference in assists with 6.3 per game while also averaging 10 points and over 4 boards per contest. He had a double-double in a big win over Kansas.

Devin Williams (West Virginia) – 13.5 ppg, 9.3 rbg

The big man who does the dirty work for Coach Huggin’s squad has really stepped his game up this year. The bruiser has his best game last week against Iowa State when he had 14 points and ripped down 15 boards for the surprising Mountaineers.

Georges Niang (Jr. - Iowa State) – 12.5 ppg, 5.2 rbg, 2.8 apg

Mr. Consistency, Niang is been very reliable and had his best game of the conference season against Kansas, leading the Cyclones with 15 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. The stretch-4, Niang is also averaging two made 3's per game.

Myles Turner (Texas) – 10.8 ppg, 7 rpg, 3 blocks (Freshman of the Year)

The imposing freshman center with three point range just keeps getting better. He had an impressive game against Oklahoma St. with 18 points and 5 blocks while also going 4-4 from three. He struggled to get touches on the offensive end in a home loss to Kansas, but he still recorded 5 blocks before fouling out.  

On the Verge – Kelly Oubre (Fr. - Kansas), Marcus Foster (So. - Kansas State), Le’Bryan Nash (Sr. Oklahoma State) 

Follow Dan Russo on twitter at DanRusso13. 

Harry Giles & Ivan Rabb Match-up

Two five-star big men faced off in one of the first big individual match-ups of the holiday weekend at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions semi-final on Friday night. Harry Giles, a five-star prospect in the junior class and a potential top draft pick in 2017 faced off against senior Ivan Rabb, who is currently the No. 7 ranked player in the class of 2015. Giles helped lead his Wesleyan Christian (NC) team to a 59-49 victory over Bishop O’ Dowd (CA).

The 6’10” Giles finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while the 6’10” Rabb ended the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds. While both players finished with a double-double neither was overly dominant and both players were quiet for long stretches. The two teams started off the game in a zone and slowly moved to more man-to-man in the later part of the second quarter.

Harry Giles – 14 points, 11 rebounds, 6-14 FG’s, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT’s

Harry Giles started with a smooth looking jump shot from just inside the three-point line, but then went scoreless the rest of the quarter with two missed dunks. In the second quarter Kwe Parker found Giles for a two hand dunk before he put together a nice baseline spin move converting with a left handed lay-up. Moving to the second half, Giles’ first basket came off a beautiful set play that resulted in a lob. He also added in another dunk and a tip-in for his 14 points.

The stat line is nice and Giles’ team got a win (thanks in part to the play of Brandon Childress), but it wasn’t a typical dominant game for Giles. He missed four dunks during the course of the game and disappeared at times as well in O’Dowd’s zone defense. He did record several blocks and also created several deflections when matched-up with Rabb on the defensive side.

Harry Giles Shot Chart

Ivan Rabb, 14 points, 13 rebounds, 5-14 FG’s, 4-4 FT’s

Rabb recorded his first field goal when time expired at the end of the first quarter and added in two tip-ins in the first half. He showed off his ambidextrous skills in the second half hitting a left-handed shot over Giles in addition to a left handed lay-up. Rabb started to move outside the post as the game progressed and he did hit a 15 foot jump shot, but also missed two pull-up jump shots just outside of the right free throw line.  Throughout the course of the game, Rabb got to face off with Giles on the offensive end while he only guarded Giles a few times on the defensive side. In his one-on-one battles he scored straight-up on Giles one time and got to the free throw line another. Rabb did create space when facing up on Giles for jump-shots on three occasions, but wasn’t able to convert.

Ivan Rabb Shot Chart

Overall: Draw

The stat lines for Giles and Rabb were fairly similar and while Giles got the win, this match-up ends in a draw. Rabb got more chances to play against Giles on offense, but Giles was also impressive creating deflections on the fast break as well as the post. Both players have the ability to score inside and out, but Giles gets the edge on aggressiveness. He moves more fluidly than Rabb on the court and also plays a bit stronger. Both players are deserving of their top ten status, but it is the junior Harry Giles that has the higher upside. 

ACC Conference Preview: Tier 1

ACC play kicked off on December 6 with North Carolina State defeating Wake Forest by a 13 point margin. While both N.C. State and Notre Dame sit atop the conference standings with one win a piece the real conference play begins today with a six game slate. In the past two years, the ACC champion not only struggled during November and December but the two teams were not given any consideration in the pre-season. In 2012, Miami dominated the league going 15-3 and last year Virginia did the same going 16-2. Will a surprise team emerge this year? Probably not, but with the addition of Louisville there will be a plethora of interesting match-ups.

Tier 1 Teams:

Duke:

The Blue Devils enter ACC play undefeated with neutral court victories over Michigan State, Temple, Stanford, and Connecticut to go with a road win over Wisconsin. Last year Jabari Parker led the Blue Devils while finishing runner-up in the ACC POY voting. This year Jahlil Okafor, is the front runner for national player of the year averaging 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds a game.

? Mark: The bench

Duke’s freshmen trio has surpassed expectations, but will their legs get heavy in March? Right now, Coach K only trusts three players off his bench and only junior Rasheed Sulaimon can be counted on consistently.

Toughest Test:

At Louisville (1/17), At Virginia (1/31)

Playing in front of the Cameron Crazies, Duke has gone undefeated at home the past two years. It looks like they could go three in a row with their toughest match-up coming against UNC on Feb. 18.

Virginia:

Top Wins: at Maryland, at VCU

What a year for the Cavaliers. After winning the ACC regular season title (16-2) and the ACC tournament title, the Cavs are sitting pretty with an undefeated record. This time last year they entered ACC play after a 35 point dismantling in Knoxville, but used their home-court and overall experience to capture an unexpected title. Everyone expected Malcolm Brogdon to excel this year, but junior Justin Anderson has captured the headlines with his 60% shooting from behind the arc and junior Anthony Gill might be the least talked about star in the nation considering he sits in 3^rd place for Ken Pomeroy’s player of the year.

? Mark: Daunting 3 game stretch

While Duke’s home court advantage is widely publicized, the Wahoo’s also have not lost a conference game in the past two years at the John Paul Jones arena. This year they face a daunting three game stretch with games against Duke (home), UNC (Away), and Louisville (Home). If they make it through this stretch UVA could be looking at a repeat and another number one seed.

Toughest Test:

Not including the three game stretch above, UVA starts its ACC play with Miami (1/3) and also heads to South Bend on 1/10. Last year, UVA beat the Irish by 15, but this is not last year’s Notre Dame squad.

Louisville:

Top Wins: Indiana (N), Ohio State (H)

The Cardinals basketball team should open up conference play like their football team did, with a win. Rick Pitino’s squad jumps up a level of play from the American conference and gets two games with UNC, but just one with both Duke and UVA. They only lost one game out of conference, but played a relatively weak slate. Point guard Chris Jones has been a source of criticism for fans given his play of late, but Terry Rozier and Wayne Blackshear will need to continue to step up and provide help to Montrezl Harrell.

? Mark: Go-to scorer

Terry Rozier is the team’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, but will he be the one to take the place of Russ Smith when it comes time for clutch baskets?

Toughest Test:

At Miami (2/3), At Virginia (2/7)

After welcoming UNC to the Yum! Center on Saturday, January 31, the Cardinals go down to Miami for a weekday road game and then head up to Charlottesville. Could the Miami game be a letdown / sandwich game?

All ACC Team:

Jahlil Okafor (Duke)

Montrezl Harrell (Louisville)

Jerian Grant (Notre Dame)

Marcus Paige (UNC)

Anthony Gill (Virginia)

All Freshmen Team:

Jahlil Okafor (Duke)

Tyus Jones (Duke)

Justise Winslow (Duke)

Donte Grantham (Clemson)

Xavier Rathan-Mayes (FSU)