Inside the McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Games

Posts Tagged ‘Morgan Wootten’

Game Week: Day 3

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Media Day

Reporters flocked to the Columbus Ronald McDonald House Tuesday to interview McDonald’s All American players about their experiences on and off the court during Game week. National and local media outlets including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and the Columbus Dispatch highlighted the players’ visit to the Columbus Ronald McDonald House and first scrimmage.

Warming Up Before The Big Dance….

McDonald's All American and future Ohio State Buckeye, Jared Sullinger concentrates on his shot during the boys scrimmage on Tuesday

Getting Dressed in Their Sunday Best.…

CBS college basketball analyst, Clark Kellogg, wrapped up the day of activities as the featured speaker at the Player Awards Banquet at Columbus Convention Center to recognize the players’ achievements. Eddie George served as the night’s Master of Ceremonies and the players heard powerful words from both Kellogg and George, two of Ohio’s most highly decorated sports icons, about the importance of using their talent and ability to give back to others less fortunate than themselves. Harrison Barnes and Chiney Ogwumike were also recognized for the prestigious Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award, honoring the best players/athletes in the country.

Harrison Barnes and Chiney Ogwumike receive the Boys and Girls Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award for their talents on and off the court during the 2010 McDonald's All American Games

And Here We Go….

Game day is at hand, folks, and if you’re as excited as we are … then you’re pretty excited to see the best high school basketball players compete on a national stage. Plop down in front of the tube tonight and tune-in to ESPNU to watch the girls game live at 5:30 p.m. ET and ESPN to watch the boys game live at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Come on back tomorrow for Game results and details on the first-ever McDonald’s All American Advisory Council Panel, led by Alonzo Mourning. In the meantime, check out mcdonaldsallamerican.com for more Game information.

Looking Back at the Past 31 Years

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Vintage McD. All American Game Photo

Vintage McD. All American Game Photo

Hello basketball fans,

Morgan Wootten here, chair of the McDonald’s All American Games selection committee. I hope you are well and enjoying basketball season. It’s been my pleasure to serve as the head of the McDonald’s All American Games selection committee since the first Game was played in 1978.

A few days ago we announced the nominees for the 2009 McDonald’s All American Games and we plan to unveil the 48 final team members selected to the teams on February 18 - stay tuned for additional information. You can also visit this site as the news is announced to see the confirmed list of players.

As we near the 2009 McDonald’s All American team selections, I wanted to take a moment to reflect back on the past 31 years of the Games – it’s hard to believe so much time has gone by and that so much has evolved since that first Game. All of the talent that has come through our doors adding to the Games’ prestige has been incredible.

 

In the first year that the boys Game was played, history was just beginning for our sport – we saw Wilt Chamberlain elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, Kentucky beat Duke 94-88 in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship, the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA Championship and future McDonald’s All Americans Shane Battier and Mike Bibby were just born.

Watching Battier and Bibby, among the thousands of other talented McDonald’s All Americans throughout the years go on to become future stars both in basketball and in life has been very exciting.

From the first girls Game that was played in 2002 to future stars LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, to Candace Parker being the first ever female to win the POWERade slam dunk contest – we’ve had a lot of great moments.

I’m looking forward to watching the new talent at the 2009 Games this year and continuing this tradition of excellence for many more years to come.

Tune back in mid January when a good friend of the Games and alumnus, Alonzo Mourning, will announce what he calls ‘Zo’s Top 33’, his top 33 McDonald’s All Americans of all time – best on and off the court. No one has ever ranked the all time McDonald’s All Americans so it will be exciting.

Who do you think should make Zo’s Top 33 of all time, and why? Send us your suggestions.

Take care,
Morgan Wootten

 

Morgan poses with Abby Waner and Josh McRoberts, both recipients of Morgan's Player of the Year award in 2005

Morgan poses with Abby Waner and Josh McRoberts, both recipients of Morgan's Player of the Year award in 2005

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