WHAT: 31st annual McDonald’s All-American High School Basketball games.
WHEN: Tonight, Girls game 7 p.m. (EST), boys game, 9:30.
WHERE: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
TV: Girls live ESPNU, boys live ESPN.
ROSTERS: Click here.
BOYS SERIES: East 16, West 14.
GIRLS SERIES: West 4, East 2.
OTHER STORIES: Inside Nuggets, Californians McRule, Jam Fest and History.
By Mitch Stephens
MaxPreps.com
MILWAUKEE - It’s practice time for the 2008 McDonald’s All-American boys and the circus has come to vast Homestead High (Mequon, Wis.), 15 miles north of Milwaukee.
A large red sliding tarp divides the two squads, but not much else in terms of high-flying action.
Iman Shumpert, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard from River Forest (Lake Park, Ill.) headed to Georgia Tech, skies a foot above the rim to send down a one-hand rip off a rebound for the West.
Not even an “ooo.”
On the other side, Michael Rosario (St. Anthony, New Jersey City, N.J., headed to Rutgers) sends a perfect lob pass for William Buford (Libbey, Toledo, Ohio, Ohio State), who mashes it straight down.
Not even an “ahhh.”
Back the other way, National Player of the Year finalist Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill Academy, Va., Arizona), a 6-1 point who co-West coach Tom Diener compares to Allen Iverson, splits two defenders with a nifty dribble drive, floats a pass up to 6-6 DeMar DeRozan (Compton, Calif., USC), who slams home another deuce, this one behind his head.
“Good job,” Diener said.
Good job? That’s what coaches say when a 3-on-2 drill ends with a clean lay-up off the board. That’s the response following defensive block out, rebound and solid outlet pass.
What Jennings and DeRozan just pulled out of their magic hat deserved a “Holy Crap!” or “I don’t believe what I just saw!” or simply “Mommy!”
But brother, welcome to the 21st century of high school hoops.
Granted, the McDonald’s All Americans are the cream of the crop and about 70 percent of them will wind up in the NBA.
But high school basketball isn’t what it used to be.
“The athleticism nowadays is through the roof,” Diener said.
Matter of fact, it doesn’t look much like high school ball any more.
Julius Erving, who was the keynote speaker in the players banquet on Tuesday and who judged Monday’s dunk contest, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the high school athleticism of today is equal to or better than the NBA from past eras.
“Overall, I think the speed, the dexterity, the talent level of athletes is greater (today), players 1 through 12,” Erving told Marquette beat writer Todd Rosiak.
East 7-foot center Tyler Zeller can’t really compare. But he’s learned to stay clear or be prepared.
“You better be ready or you can get killed down there (in the paint),” he said. “Guys are flying all over the place. Sometimes I watch these guys and am just amazed.”
But of course, there is the down side to the Barnum and Bailey act.
It hasn’t necessarily translated to better basketball.
Though the talent is up and rising, USA basketball has backslid internationally. The shooting and passing in Europe has led to parity and a fall from Super Power status for the USA.
“The skill level and knowledge of the game hasn’t matched the talent increase,” Diener said. “Shooting hasn’t improved in the last 30 to 40 years.”
It’s true to form during these simultaneous practices. Few players even attempt shots past 15 feet. Most are taking it to the rack, mano-a-mano.
In a 10-minute East scrimmage, 6-9 forward Samardo Samuels (St. Benedict’s, N.J.) dunks four times. Elliot Williams (St. George’s Independent School, Memphis, Tenn.) Al-Farouqu Aminu (Norcross, Ga.) and JaMychal Green (St. Jude Educational Institute, Montgomery, Ala.) each slam down a pair.
Granted, there’s not much defense being offered yet. But finally the North Carolina-bound Zeller, who averaged 32.1 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Indiana State champions, drilled an 18-footer.
Zeller is an exception to the current rule. His skills are aplenty, he runs the break and has good foot speed. Some of that because he wasn’t always a big man, having grown an almost preposterous 14 inches since the eighth grade.
Besides that, he said, his dad, a 6-4, 240-pound farmer from Iowa, taught him the basics early. Zeller’s bloodlines were pretty good also as his uncle Al Eberhard, a 6-6 forward, played four seasons for the Detroit Pistons during the 1970s.
“My dad taught me the fundamentals,” Zeller said. “He said if someone had taught him the skills he might have made it to the pros too.”
Dads and fundamentals contributed to some of this year’s most skilled players: Greg Monroe, Elena Delle Donne, Jrue Holiday, Luke Babbitt and Larry Drew II.
Drew’s dad played 10 seasons in the NBA and has been an assistant coach with five teams in the league since, currently with the Atlanta Hawks.
Drew II is only 6-foot and 160 pounds and isn’t as athletic as his Southern California guard comrades, but he makes up for it with his vast feel for the game. He averaged 13.9 points for nationally ranked Taft (Los Angeles) and 9.2 assists.
He’s considered a pass first player, a true point guard.
“My dad taught me everything when I was about 4-years-old,” Drew said. “He knew I wasn’t going to be real big so I better have learned how to do things right.”
He said his dad isn’t all that fond of his son’s somewhat unorthodox shooting stroke, but the North Carolina-bound star pointed out: “I just won the McDonald’s 3-point shooting contest, so I can’t be all that bad.”
Monroe, a 6-10, 235-pounder who won the McDonald’s Morgan Wooten National Player of the Year after averaging 21.7 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game, said his pops made one clear distinction growing up.
“He said if a big man can pass he’s earned his weight in gold,” Monroe said. “I’ve taken that to heart. I’m always working on shooting and passing and foot work.”
Delle Donne’s skill level is off the charts.
In fact, experts say, she represents the girls game, one that the boys can learn from.
Since the girls game is played below the rim, they must rely largely on those skills. In the case of 6-4, 190-pound Delle Donne, she always had the height and frame. She could have easily been a dominant post player only and earned a full ride to college.
But with her dad Ernie’s push she developed all facets of her game and into one of the greatest female high school players ever. She earned a full ride to Connecticut and the Wooten National Player of the Year after averaging 28 points, 11 rebounds and three assists per game.
“My dad knew I was going to be tall so he figured to really push me over the top he’d teach me everything about the game,” Elena said.
It wasn’t easy and it didn’t come with much success in the early years.
“He taught me the perfect shooting form when I was 6, but I wasn’t strong enough to get it to the rim,” she said. “I’d shoot all sorts of airballs. So much of me just wanted to fling it up there any way I could. But I trusted my dad. I knew he was teaching me the right way. I just stuck with it and when I got strong enough it worked out for the best.”
Samuels, a rugged 6-9, 230-pound power forward headed to Louisville, didn’t have the luxury of learning the game young. He grew up in Jamaica and didn’t pick up the game until he was 13.
He’s learned quickly from one of the prep coaching greats in Dan Hurley, but is still relatively raw.
“I learned a lot of the game just playing with older players,” Samuels said. “Coach (Hurley) taught me the low block very well, but if other coaches need me to play more outside I’m sure I can learn. I’m very adaptable. I work hard and play hard.”
Diener doesn’t question that. And he’s sure if any of the McDonald All-Americans are deficient skill-wise, they won’t be for long.
“When they go off to college they’ll find out in a hurry that they need all the skills and fundamentals,” he said. “Most of these guys were so much better athletically than everyone else in high school they didn’t really need them. That won’t be the case in college. Their eyes will open wide.”
Holiday’s eyes have been opened since a youth.
His dad and mom were college players and is his older brother Justin, a starter at Washington this season as a freshman.
The 6-4, 195-pound senior at Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.) is considered possibly the most complete player in today’s game. He averaged 24.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.2 blocks per game for the two-time defending state champions. He’s also considered a defensive stopper.
It’s not by accident. And it wasn’t by playing a ton of street ball.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love to run,” Holiday said. “But before I run I have to get my work in.”
That would be Holiday’s fundamentals. He estimates he spends 2-3 hours a day just on shooting and ball-handling drills.
“That’s why the kid is the ultimate winner,” Campbell Hall coach Terry Kelly said. “Yes, he defies laws of physics with some of the things he can do. But on top of that he works to the bone to make himself better at every nuance of the game. How do you beat that?”
E-mail Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com.
