The 2008 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an

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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 Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at the Bradley Center in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, home of the NBA's

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. The game's rosters featured the best and most highly recruited high school boys graduating in 2008. The game was the 31st 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. The 48 players were selected from 2,500 nominees by a committee of basketball experts. They were chosen not only for their on-court skills, but for their performances off the court as well. Coach Morgan Wootten, who had more than 1,200 wins as head basketball coach at DeMatha High School, was chairman of the selection committee. Legendary

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coach

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

, who has been involved in the McDonald's All American Games since its inception, served as chairman of the Games and as an advisor to the selection committee. Proceeds from the 2008 McDonald's All American High School Basketball Games went to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Eastern Wisconsin and its Ronald McDonald House program.

2008 Game

The game was telecast live by

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 ...

. Nearly 11,000 fans filled the Bradley Center and witnessed a closely contested 107-102 victory by the visiting East Team. The victory widened the East’s lead in the overall series to 17-14 and stopped a two-game winning streak by the West Team. The John R. Wooden MVP Award was given to Tyreke Evans (Memphis), as he led the East squad in both points (21) and rebounds (10). Mike Rosario (Rutgers) contributed 18 points and five steals. That steal total earned Rasario a tie for fifth place all-time in the record books. Willie Warren (Oklahoma) led the West Team with 23 points on 65% shooting from the field. Brandon Jennings had a solid game with 12 points, five rebounds and nine assists, which placed him in the 10th spot all-time. Both teams featured a balanced attack where twelve players total scored in double figures (Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, DeMar DeRozan, B.J. Mullens, Willie Warren and Anthony Smith for the West) and (Tyreke Evans, Kemba Walker, Mike Rosario, Elliot Williams, Ed Davis and JaMychal Green for the East). The West Team also featured this year's Morgan Wootten Player of the Year and the Naismith Sportsmanship Award winners,

Greg Monroe Gregory Keith Monroe Jr. (born June 4, 1990) is an American former professional basketball player who is a player development coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons i ...

(Georgetown) and Luke Babbitt (Nevada) respectively. This game looked to be a great match-up from the tip. The teams traded buckets and had three ties and four lead changes within the first three minutes of the game. However, the East Team grabbed the lead at 8-6 and kept it the remainder of the game. The West Squad fought hard to keep the lead to single digits and had it down to a two-point game late in the second period, but they couldn’t overcome a 14 rebound deficit and 52% shooting from the East Team.

East Roster

West Roster

* Rosario left Rutgers after his sophomore season of 2009–10 and transferred to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He completed his eligibility at Florida in 2013. * Opted to accept a contract in Rome, Italy instead of attending a US university.

Coaches

The East team was coached by: * Head Coach Woodie Jackson of Francis Marion High School ( Marion, Alabama) * Asst Coach Anthony Trimble of Francis Marion High School (Marion, Alabama) * Asst Coach Albert Turner Jr. of Francis Marion High School (Marion, Alabama) The West team was coached by: * Co-Head Coach Tom Diener of Harold S. Vincent High School (

) * Co-Head Coach Jim Gosz of Rufus King High School (

) * Asst Coach Marc Mitchell of Custer High School (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Boxscore

Visitors: East

Home: West

(* = Starting Line-up)

All-American Week

Schedule

* Tuesday, March 25:

Powerade Powerade is a sports drink created in 1988 and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. Its primary competitor is Gatorade, which is owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Powerade was created by the Coca-Cola Company and first released in 1988. Th ...

Jamfest ** Slam Dunk Contest ** Three-Point Shoot-out ** Timed Basketball Skills Competition * Wednesday, March 26: 31st Annual Boys All-American Game The

JamFest is a skills-competition evening featuring basketball players who demonstrate their skills in three crowd-entertaining ways. The slam dunk contest was first held in 1987, and a 3-point shooting challenge was added in 1989. This year, for the first time, a timed basketball skills competition was added to the schedule of events.

Contest Winners

* The 2008

Slam Dunk contest was won by DeMar DeRozan. * Larry Drew II was winner of the 2008 3-point shoot-out. * The skills competition was won by Jrue Holiday.

References

External links

McDonald's All-American on the web
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald's 2007–08 in American basketball

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2008 in sports in Wisconsin Basketball competitions in Milwaukee