The 1996 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

game played on Sunday, March 31, 1996 at the

Pittsburgh Civic Arena The Civic Arena, formerly the Civic Auditorium and later Mellon Arena, was an arena located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Civic Arena primarily served as the home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's National Hockey League (NHL) ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 1996. The game was the 19th annual version of the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

first played in 1978.

1996 game

The game was telecast live by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Ronnie Fields Ronnie Fields (born February 28, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. High school Born and raised in Chicago, Fields played at Farragut Academy in Chicago from 1992–1996 and was a teammate of Kevin Garnett during the 199 ...

did not play, having suffered an injury in February 1996 that forced him to stay away from the basketball court for a long time. Charles Hathaway was also unable to play.

Shaheen Holloway Shaheen Holloway (born October 7, 1976) is an American men's basketball coach and former player who is the coach for the Seton Hall Pirates. He played college basketball at Seton Hall from 1996 to 2000. A point guard, Holloway played professional ...

, who was the starting

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

for the East, won the MVP award with 7 points, 8 assists and 6 steals; other players who starred were guard

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

(13 points/3 assists), center

Vassil Evtimov Vassil Iliev "Vasco" Evtimov ( bg, Васил Илиев "Васко" Евтимов) (born 30 May 1977) is a French-Bulgarian former professional basketball player and head coach of BC Chernomorets in National Basketball League. A 2.08 m pow ...

(the only one to record a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 14 points and 11 rebounds) and bench players

Stephen Jackson Stephen Jesse Jackson (born April 5, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Mi ...

(East) and Winfred Walton (West) who were the top scorers of the game, tied at 21 points.A LOOK BACK AT THE McDONALD'S ALL AMERICAN GAMES SUPERSTARS AND UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES FROM GAMES PAST
/ref> Of the 22 All-Americans, 12 did not play in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, while 2 were drafted out of high school in the

1996 NBA Draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

: Kobe Bryant (13th overall pick) and

Jermaine O'Neal Jermaine Lee O'Neal Sr. (born October 13, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. The center– power forward had a successful high school career and declared his eligibility for the 1996 NBA draft straight out of high s ...

(17th overall pick). Only Ronnie Fields did not play a single game in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

or the NBA.

East roster

1996 roster at page 7.

West roster

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach John Miller of

Blackhawk High School Blackhawk High School is a public high school in Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a mailing address for nearby Beaver Falls. It is the only high school in the Blackhawk School District. Athletic teams compete as the Blackhawk ...

(

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its co ...

) * Asst Coach Rick Bell of

Peters Township High School Peters Township High School is a public high school that is located in McMurray, Pennsylvania, United States. The current building was built in 2021. This new building was constructed just up the road from the old school, and was constructed at a c ...

(

McMurray, Pennsylvania McMurray is a census-designated place (CDP) in Peters Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. The population was 4,736 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Its zip code is 15317, which it shares with neighboring ...

) * Asst Coach Don Graham of North Catholic High School (

) The West team was coached by: * Head Coach Nate Harris of Booker T. Washington High School (

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

) * Asst Coach Levi Brown of Booker T. Washington High School (

)

All-American Week

Contest winners

* The 1996 Slam Dunk contest was won by Lester Earl. * The 1996 3-point shoot-out was won by Nate James.

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the webMcDonald's All-American all-time rostersGame stats at Realgm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 1995–96 in American basketball

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1996 in sports in Pennsylvania Basketball in Pennsylvania