The 1980 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an

All-star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

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 (appro ...

game played on Saturday, April 12, 1980 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 1980. The game was the 3rd annual version of the

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

first played in 1978.

1980 game

The game was not televised, but highlights were aired by

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

during '' Sportsworld'' on April 13. The East roster could count on two promising big men, Earl Jones and Sam Perkins; the West had guard Doc Rivers and centers Russell Cross and Tim McCormick. The game saw the West prevail 135-111 thanks to the scoring efforts of Cross (20 points), Rivers (20), Kenny Fields (18) and James Banks (16). The top scorer for the East was Gary Springer with 18 points. Sam Perkins scored 12 points and had 24 rebounds, an all-time record for the McDonald's game. Russell Cross, who scored 12 of his 15 free throws in addition to 4 field goals, received the MVP award. 1980 game and rosters at page 68. Of the 25 players, 13 went on to play at least 1 game in the NBA.

East roster

1980 roster at pages 1-2.

West roster

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach John Wood of Spingarn High School ( Washington, D.C.) The West team was coached by: * Head Coach Nick Robertson of McMinnville High School (

McMinnville, Oregon McMinnville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Yamhill County, Oregon, Yamhill County, Oregon, United States at the base of the Oregon Coast Range. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States cens ...

)

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the webMcDonald's All-American all-time rostersGame stats at Realgm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 1979–80 in American basketball

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1980 in sports in California Basketball competitions in Oakland, California