The 1997 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, March 29, 1997 at the Clune Arena in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 1997. The game was the 20th 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.

1997 game

The game was telecast live by CBS for the last time. Beginning in 1998,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

became the broadcaster for the McDonald's All-American games.

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979), nicknamed T-Mac, is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-N ...

did not play in the game because his mother and grandmother could not fly to Colorado Springs to attend the game due to the high prices of plane tickets. Since they could not be present, he declined to play. The 1997 game was the lowest-scoring of the history of the McDonald's All-American games. Kenny Gregory won the MVP award with an entertaining style of play that included several dunks; other players who starred were Duke-bound Elton Brand, who scored 16 points;

Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won NBA Finals, championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named ...

and Larry Hughes, who were respectively 1 point and 1 rebound shy of recording a double-double (Odom 9 points/11 rebounds; Hughes 17 pts/9 rebs); and Dion Glover, who scored 15 points in 17 minutes. For the first time in the event history, two twins played in the game: this was the case of brothers Jarron and Jason Collins, who were part of the West team. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the McDonald's All-American game, fans selected an all-time team: the final selections were

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball, Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegi ...

and

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...

. 1997 game and rosters at page 81. Of the 24 players, 16 went on to play 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 ...

: among them McGrady who declared for the 1997 NBA draft and was selected with the 9th overall pick by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

, following

Kevin Garnett Kevin Maurice Garnett ( ; born May 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Big Ticket," Garnett is considered one of the greatest power f ...

(1995),

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

and Jermaine O'Neal (both 1996), three other McDonald's All-Americans who were drafted out of high school.

East roster

1997 roster at pages 7-8.

West roster

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach Thomas Hargrove of Anacostia High School (

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) * Asst Coach Kevin Hargrove of Anacostia High School (

) The West team was coached by: * Head Coach Mark Beranek of Sierra High School (

) * Asst Coach Todd Morse of Lewis-Palmer High School (

Monument, Colorado Monument is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule town situated at the base of the Rampart Range in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Monument is one of the three communities that ...

) * Asst Coach David Shaub of Centennial High School (

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

)

All-American Week

Contest winners

* The 1997 Slam Dunk contest was won by Baron Davis. * The 1997 3-point shoot-out was won by Shane Battier.

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the webMcDonald's All-American all-time rostersGame stats at Realgm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 1996–97 in American basketball

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1997 in sports in Colorado Basketball competitions in Colorado Sports competitions in Colorado Springs, Colorado