The 2014 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 that was played on April 2, 2014 at the
United Center
United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is named ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, home of the
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
. It was the 37th annual
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 ...
for high school boys. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited
blue chip boys
high school basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
players graduating in 2014. Chicago, which became the first city to host the game in back-to-back years in 2012, will continue to host the game annually at least until 2015. The rosters for the game were announced at 6:00 PM ET on January 29 on
ESPNU
ESPNU is an American multinational digital cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and the Hears ...
. At the time of the announcement 22 of the 24 players had committed to Division I basketball programs.
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
and
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
led the field with four commits each.
One of the game's major storylines was that local big men
Jahlil Okafor
Jahlil Obika Okafor (pronounced ; born December 15, 1995) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League. He played his freshman season of college basketball for the 2014–15 ...
(McDonald's Morgan Wootten Player of the Year) and
Cliff Alexander
Cliff Alexander (born November 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Sagesse Club of the Lebanese Basketball League, he last played for Suwon KT Sonicboom of the Korean Basketball League. He completed his freshman seaso ...
(
Naismith Player of the Year) opposed each other.
Rosters
The
2014–15 Duke Blue Devils (
Tyus Jones
Tyus Robert Jones Sr. (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown team the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 seasons ...
,
Justise Winslow
Justise Jon Winslow (born March 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 201 ...
, Okafor, and
Grayson Allen
Grayson James Allen (born October 8, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played four years of college basketball at Duke University. Allen was drafted with ...
) and
2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats (
Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995), sometimes known as KAT (his initials), is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basket ...
,
Trey Lyles
Trey Anthony Lyles (born November 5, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Utah Jazz following his freshman season at the University of Kent ...
,
Tyler Ulis
Tyler Ulis (born January 5, 1996) is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats of the SEC. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. At Kentucky in 2015, he led his team in ass ...
, and
Devin Booker
Devin Armani Booker (born October 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the son of former basketball player Melvin Booker. After playing college basketba ...
) shared the lead among committed players at the time of the original roster announcement on January 29.
[ Three hometown players (Okafor, Alexander and ]Tyler Ulis
Tyler Ulis (born January 5, 1996) is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats of the SEC. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats. At Kentucky in 2015, he led his team in ass ...
) were selected for the game. Texas led the way with five natives (Myles Turner
Myles Christian Turner (born March 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season for the Texas Longhorns men's basketball, Texas Longhorns befor ...
, Emmanuel Mudiay
Emmanuel Kabeya Mudiay (born March 5, 1996) is a Congolese-American professional basketball player for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He played high school basketball for Grace Preparatory Academy and Prime Prep Academy in Texas, where he ...
, Justin Jackson, Justise Winslow
Justise Jon Winslow (born March 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 201 ...
, and Kelly Oubre Jr.).[ ]Rashad Vaughn
Rashad DeAndre Vaughn (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.
High school career
For the first three years of his ...
committed to UNLV
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
on February 11, but Turner remained uncommitted at the time of the game. He committed to Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
4 weeks after the game on April 30.
8 days before the game, Okafor was recognized as the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. 2 days before the game, Grayson Allen
Grayson James Allen (born October 8, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played four years of college basketball at Duke University. Allen was drafted with ...
won the slam dunk contest, James Blackmon, Jr. won the three-point contest and Tyus Jones
Tyus Robert Jones Sr. (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown team the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 seasons ...
won the skills competition.
East Roster
*Cliff Alexander
Cliff Alexander (born November 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Sagesse Club of the Lebanese Basketball League, he last played for Suwon KT Sonicboom of the Korean Basketball League. He completed his freshman seaso ...
, PF, Kansas
*Myles Turner
Myles Christian Turner (born March 24, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season for the Texas Longhorns men's basketball, Texas Longhorns befor ...
, C, Texas
*Tyus Jones
Tyus Robert Jones Sr. (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown team the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 seasons ...
, PG, Duke
*Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. (born November 15, 1995), sometimes known as KAT (his initials), is a Dominican-American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basket ...
, PF, Kentucky
* James Blackmon, Jr., SG, Indiana
*D'Angelo Russell
D'Angelo Danté Russell (born February 23, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected as a McDonald's All-American in 2014 and played college ba ...
, SG, Ohio State
* Justin Jackson, SF, North Carolina
*Melo Trimble
Romelo Delante Trimble (born February 2, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League. He played at Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia, where he was a McDonald's All-Ameri ...
, PG, Maryland
*Isaiah Whitehead
Isaiah Whitehead (born March 8, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Beşiktaş Emlakjet of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for Seton Hall.
High school career
Whitehead rose to prominence playing ...
, SG, Seton Hall
*Theo Pinson
Theophilus Alphonso Pinson (born November 5, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. A swingman, Pinson was the starting sho ...
, SF, North Carolina
*Justise Winslow
Justise Jon Winslow (born March 26, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, with whom he won the 201 ...
, SF, Duke
*Kevon Looney
Kevon Grant Looney (born February 6, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a freshman playing college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, he earned secon ...
, PF, UCLA
West Roster
*Jahlil Okafor
Jahlil Obika Okafor (pronounced ; born December 15, 1995) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League. He played his freshman season of college basketball for the 2014–15 ...
, C, Duke
*Emmanuel Mudiay
Emmanuel Kabeya Mudiay (born March 5, 1996) is a Congolese-American professi