The 1983 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 9, 1983 at the

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Cente ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 1983. The game was the 6th 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.

1983 game

The East team could count on the two top guards from the state of New York: Kenny Smith and Dwayne "Pearl" Washington, and also had several of the top 10 players of the class. The West had top-ranked forward Winston Bennett and center Joe Wolf. The East dominated the first half and at halftime led the score 73 to 62. The West came back during the second half, guided by two Kentucky commits: James Blackmon and Winston Bennett. With 4:31 remaining, the West was still 11 points behind, but an 11-0 run tied the score. The decisive layup was scored by Blackmon with 9 seconds remaining on the clock: Dwayne Washington scored a layup with 1 second left, but the officials called a charge and the basket did not count. The West won the game 115 to 113: Washington (11 points and 8 assists) was named MVP together with Bennett, who scored 21 points. Other players who had good performances were Tom Sheehey (the top scorer of the game with 22 points), Blackmon (21 points), Bruce Dalrymple (16) and Michael Smith (15). 1983 game and rosters at page 69. Of the 25 players, 12 went on to play at least 1 game in the

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

East roster

West roster

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach Buddy Gardler of Cardinal O'Hara High School (

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) The West team was coached by: * Head Coach Joe Treat of Bryant High School (

Bryant, Arkansas Bryant is a city in Saline County, Arkansas, United States and an affluent suburb of Little Rock. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city was 16,688. It is part of the Central Arkansas region. History European settlers establi ...

)

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the webMcDonald's All-American all-time rostersGame stats at Realgm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 1982–83 in American basketball

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1983 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball competitions in Atlanta 1980s in Atlanta