The most historical aspect of tonight’s McDonald’s All-American game was the attendance, 19,909; highest in the all-star series history. The East All-Stars triumphed 111-96. This is the first time a squad failed to hit the C-note since the 2006 East team scored 94 in San Diego.
The East was led by game co-MVP James McAdoo, a North Carolina recruit, and one of the top rated players in the country, who scored 17 points on 8-13 shooting. Florida recruit Brad Beal tied McAdoo for the game high in scoring.
“It’s a dream come true, just to play in this game in front of 20,000 people. I just went out there with the mindset to make shots and try to grab some rebounds. I didn’t do as well as I should, but it’s all good, and it all ended up well,” McAdoo said.
In the Girls game, held right before the Boys game, the MVP, Elizabeth Williams, a Duke commit, hailed from the same town as McAdoo.
“She’s a great player, she dominated the girls game from what I saw,” McAdoo exclaimed.
Williams finished with 23 points on 10-18 shooting and 11 rebounds.
McAdoo shared the award with Michael Gilchrist, a Kentucky recruit (yes, the rich do indeed get richer don’t they?) who had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The only other player in the game to have a double double was Pittsburgh recruit Khem Birch, who also drew a lot of attention for his wardrobe.
Not only did he wear a shirt underneath his jersey, but it was a long sleeve shirt. Hey, it is a hockey arena after all. Other players impressing the crowd were Duke recruit Quinn Cook. Who’s undersized, but consistently displayed a great first step on his way to finishing with 14 points.
McAdoo’s future teammate at UNC, P.J. Hairston had 3 triple and finished with 15 points. Austin Rivers, Cody Zeller and Anthony Davis also all finished in double figures for the West.
But Gilchrist might have been the most impressive of all on the court. A member of the media asked him to emote about his MVP performance.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m kind of nervous, but I had a lot of fun on the court with these guys. I don’t do this media stuff like that; I’m here just to be here,” Gilchrist responded.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest webzine. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does a regular guest spot each week for Chicagoland Sports Radio.com You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank